Stargate Atlantis: Universal Sin (2013 Redux)
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: What if the forces of Atlantis, Wraith, and Traveler was not enough to defeat the Asurans? The course of the galaxy takes a dark detour into chaos, and the Atlantis expedition is faced with all their sins staring them in the face. Nobody will come out of this the way they came in, and some won't come back at all. Alternate ending to Stargate Atlantis, Complete.
1. Confessions of a Forgotten Sin

**Stargate: Universal Sin (2013 Redux)**

You can't hide from your sins

A Three Part Alternate Ending to Stargate: Atlantis

**Foreword by Lone-ranger1.**

I've been watching Stargate since the original movie, and a sci-fi fan from before then. Few things captivated me like those characters – they were idealistic and when push came to shove, they defended those ideals. They were funny, they were sad, they had a charm to them, and they cried when they suffered. They were the underdogs and every defeat made victory all the sweeter. Their story is one that I loved every minute of.

But an ideal isn't an ideal if it can't hold up when the consequences aren't easily brushed aside. This story is about hope, and how hope can't exist without darkness. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed conceiving it, and now, giving it the true depth I envisioned.

Special Thanks goes to the following, **Neela**, **TheIceMenace**, **Choo1701**, **SBZ, Alx, **and the countless others who have helped me get to this point.

_Special Note to those who read the previous version: This is a standalone story now. Dark Frontier will not be rewritten like this, but will live on in another format… eventually. _

**Synopsis:** What if the forces of Atlantis, Wraith, and Traveler was not enough to defeat the Asurans? The course of the galaxy takes a dark detour into chaos, and the Atlantis expedition is faced with all their sins staring them in the face. Nobody will come out of this the way they came in, and some won't come back at all.

**Warning:** Strong Mature Language, Violence, Adult Themes, . This publication is rated a strong R.

**Confession of a Forgotten Sin**

"_Some rise by sin, others by virtue fall."_

_**January 4**__**th**_**,**_** 2008**_

_**USS Daedalus, Armory Deck**_

_**Pegasus Galaxy, En Route to Asuras**_

In the main armory of the USS _Daedalus_, Rodney armed up with the rest of the twelve man Marine escort for their mission to Asuras. The smile on the Replicators face was by far the most disturbing thing Rodney had ever seen. Despite being a pretty cute Replicator, it had been purely coincidental that she had turned out that way… at least that's what Rodney kept telling himself.

At least she wasn't blond. "So, uh, How are you feeling FRAN?"

FRAN turned to Rodney and nodded gently with a smile. "I am ready, Doctor McKay. I look forward to accomplishing such an important mission."

To Rodney's right hand side, Ronon Dex growled softly and gripped his Particle Magnum in its holster. "You creep the _hell_ out of me, you know that?"

Rodney frowned, but FRAN shrugged apologetically and continued smiling. "I am sorry. I will attempt to rectify this for the few minutes we have left. I am nothing if not a friend of yours, Ronon Dex."

"See? She just wants to be helpful." Rodney quipped. While human behavioral patterns weren't his forte, even he could see the Marines nearby in _Daedalus's_ armory were unsettled, each was armed with grenade launchers and Anti-Replicator Guns, Rodney couldn't help but notice how they all ended up pointing closer and closer to FRAN with each passing word. "Gruff doesn't work when you're dealing with a machine. Impossible to intimidate without emotions."

Ronon took a step forward and faced off with FRAN, his intimidating pose did nothing to ebb her smile. "What would you do if a Wraith was here?"

FRAN replied instantly. "Without a weapon, hand to hand combat is my only resort. Destruction of Wraith brain matter via blunt force would be the easiest and most effective method to deal with it given its considerable healing power. Removal of feeding hand would also prevent friendly casualties."

Rodney hadn't exactly planned on her ever being put in that situation, but it was equal parts reassuring and terrifying that she didn't hesitate. Ronon just growled in assent.

_**USS Daedalus, Bridge**_

Colonel Samantha Carter sat in the operations console next to the Captain's chair on the USS _Daedalus_. She knew it wouldn't be much longer until the ships dropped out of hyperspace in orbit of Asuras. Everyone on the ship knew it was going to be a tough fight.

The _Daedalus_ and _Apollo_ were armed to the teeth with Asgard and nuclear weaponry, but the beams were slow firing, and even with the advanced shields, they wouldn't be able to hold off the Asuran drone weapons indefinitely. The Wraith Hives were in worse shape. Their plasma cannons were strong, but as far as damage per second, they could only fire half of what _Daedalus_ was able to put out. The Hives would be able to spread the return fire, and under their combined strength, disable some Auroras.

What worried Sam the most though were the Travelers – six ships and their own Aurora. The Aurora would be a prime target. She almost regretted her decision to allow Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard to pilot the ship for them. The relatively small generational craft were built tough, but scans had revealed they were actually quite brittle without shielding. Their weaponry was impressive. A pair of heavy particle cannons mounted on the front, enough to take out even an Aurora under combined fire. The last time she'd been involved in a large fight like this had been at the Ori Supergate. She pushed aside the memories of that battle as it only made her more conscious of what they were about to do.

_**USS Daedalus, Flight Deck  
F-302 Cockpit, Flight Wing "Dark Star Titan-Seven"**_

Captain Anthony _'Razor'_ Pierce watched the countdown in his HUD. eight seconds. Eight seconds and the fight of his life would commence. Everything he'd done before now was just training, preparation for this day. War games with Jaffa in Death Gliders, high gravity training using a centrifuge, even weapons and materials training so he understood how much power the weapons his fighter was armed with would cause. It was all just practice.

Now as the countdown reached zero, he heard his CAG, Major Jason _'Big Mac'_ McCrea bark into the radio. _"Kick the tires an' light the fires. Dark Star Titan wing, Stronger than the gods!"_

Razor flicked the switch on his afterburners and felt the ramjets along the stern of the craft propel him out into space, and into the newly created firestorm. Somewhere in his mind he heard his wing mate make a weak Battlestar Galactica reference… something about fraking toasters, but he paid no mind to it and instead engaged his thrusters. The moment he'd been trained to handle was here and _Razor_ had every intention to perform admirably.

_**Traveler Aurora, Control Chair Room**_

John dropped the craft out of hyperspace in orbit of Asuras and instantly raised the shields. He sat in the control chair of the Traveler Aurora and could feel Larrin standing beside him watching on the large HUD in front of him. "Alright, Sheppard, if you ever wanted to impress me now's the time."

John rolled his eyes and targeted the nearest Aurora with a dozen drones, sufficient to knock out its aft shielding and let the fighters deal with the hyperdrive. The drones spat out quickly and John felt the ship rock slightly from a hit. The mental interface let him respond near instantly and he quickly diverted his attention to the aggressor. He watched it come under combined fire from two Wraith Hives and a Traveler ship. He fired another dozen drones and changed targets – an explosion behind him ignored as he focused on the next closest Aurora.

The initial moments of battle were going well. The overwhelming first strike had caught the Aurora's off guard and Shepard's quick targeting had broken a hole in the Asuran's orbital defenses. _Daedalus_ took advantage and punched through the orbital defenses.

"Come on, Sheppard! Tear 'em up!"

All things aside, Larrin was surprisingly excited by combat; the thought disturbed John ever so slightly.

_**Asuras, Power Control Room**_

The room materialized around Rodney and Ronon, the taller of whom quickly spat fire orders to the dozen Marines with them. "Secure the room! Cover the entrances!" He looked to Rodney's escort. "You two, back them up! Move!"

Rodney paid little attention to Ronon's barking of orders, instead focusing on the control console in front of him. The room they'd beamed into was just like every room he'd ever seen on Atlantis, minus the ten thousand year old plants. The plan he'd come up with was bold, and it all rested now on getting the ZPM's to detonate… well… and FRAN of course, but knowing her designer quite well, _Hardy har har!_ He knew that she wouldn't let anything but the gravest of situations hold her back.

_**Somewhere in Asuran Capital City**_

FRAN moved forward at a decent pace, not running, not jogging, but not exactly walking. Sauntering would probably be the best descrition. Having appeared in a seemingly random hallway, she knew where to go from the schematics she'd now begun to access on the wireless network. It was likely to be populated but that was the plan. As strange as it might sound to a human, FRAN was quite pleased with the prospect of becoming the core of what would essentially become a nuclear fusion reaction.

She stepped into the room with a delightful smile, the replicators in the room turning to look at such an odd presence. "Hello."

The Asurans mimicked human body language, their eyebrows furrowing and heads turned in surprise. It didn't come as much of a shock to FRAN that they tried to pull back as she activated her programming and the individual nanite cells that made up her body raised the attraction level of those around her beginning to form the core of her new existence.

FRAN could feel them all, all their memories, all their feelings, all their goals. But it was all pointless. Nothing would stop her mission, _nothing._

_**USS Daedalus, Bridge**_

On the bridge of the _Daedalus, _Major Kevin Marks barked out the ship's status as he brought it around for another pass on an Asuran Aurora. "Another Aurora down, sir. Shields at eighty-three percent."

Colonel Steven Caldwell held onto his chair as he watched Drones impact against the powerful Asgard Shields surrounding the craft. Only a few drones actually struck the ship though, as the Auroras concentrated on attacking the Wraith. '_Those attack codes must be overwhelming'_ Marks thought. "Keep firing, Major, and tell Titan wing to stick close, no telling what that blob might end up doing." He turned to Carter and smiled tersely. "Speaking of which…"

Carter nodded and looked down at the screen where sensors had begun to detect the emissions she was looking for. "It's begun, the attraction field has been activated and it's growing exponentially. I estimate about four minutes and…"

Carter's console began to beep loudly, and her brow furrowed in confusion. Marks and Caldwell noted immediately. Caldwell asked. "What? What is it?"

The confused expression evolved into a face of stunned horror that said more than her words ever could. "The… the field, it's shrinking."

_**Core of Nanite Mass on Asuras**_

FRAN only had a meager understanding of human emotions and reactions to various for instance. To FRAN, pain was the equivalent of data being analyzed when one's being was under attack or being damaged. If that was really all pain was, then FRAN was in an excruciating amount of pain. "What… what have you done?"

The voice that came back was imposing, deep voiced and almost as if multiple voices were saying it. _"We have interfaced with you. Don't you feel us?"_

FRAN could feel it. It felt _wrong_. This was not what she was supposed to be doing. "We are not compatible, your… _my…_ programming is-"

The data that registered through her sensors now was different. But- _"Your programming is inferior. We are perfecting you."_

FRAN could feel it, parts of her were being subverted, rearranged. They weren't part of her anymore. "No, you must stop. My mission is-"

The last assault on her defenses completely disarmed any resistance she had. FRAN contemplated screaming, the only reaction possible a human could have done to their individual cells being spread along the mass surrounding her – slowly being deleted. _"Your mission is a failure."_

_**Asuras, Power Control Room**_

"What? Oh _no…oh no-no-no-no-no-no-no! SHIT-SHIT-SHIT!"_

McKay's screaming brought Ronon back from his supervising of the Marines as they watched the entrances to the ZPM room. He'd rarely heard McKay curse so loudly and repeatedly. "What, what's wrong?"

McKay's expression was nothing but terror as he clicked his radio. "This is McKay to _Daedalus_. They got FRAN. I don't know how but the blob has stopped growing. I repeat, FRAN has failed and the Asurans are still active!"

From outside, Ronon heard a Marine scream '_Contact_!' and looked to McKay with defiance. The plan was failing, and now they were under imminent threat.

_**USS Apollo, Bridge**_

Holding onto his chair on the bridge of the USS _Apollo_, Colonel Abraham Ellis barked out orders as his ship rocked from weapons impacts. "Status!"

Ellis's scream made it to the helmsman's ears, but the reply wasn't something he liked. "Shields down to thirty-five percent! Nanite mass has stopped growing and the Asurans are regrouping!"

Abraham Ellis was ready for anything, but actually having to watch the battle fall apart before his eyes was something he'd hoped never to see. "Keep firing, Major! Try and get us…"

The explosion that took out the console to the right was impressive and showered him in sparks. The com officer wasn't so lucky as he screamed from the shrapnel along his arms and chest. Ellis ignored it and focused on the battle.

_**Traveler Aurora, Control Chair Room**_

Larrin took John's shoulder in her hand and pointed to the viewscreen ahead of them. "Sheppard! Look!"

John could see the issue, and he could feel the rage boiling inside him. "I know, I know!"

John summed it up succinctly. Four immediate problems; _Apollo_ was caught in a maelstrom of fire; three Auroras and two Wraith Hives were bearing down on the Atlantean craft and even with its superior shields, it wouldn't last much longer.

That led into problem number two, the Wraith. John could only assume that the Wraith had detected that the nanite blob plan had failed and now were targeting _Apollo_ and _Daedalus_ in order to lessen the strength of Atlantis.

Problem three was more personal to the Travelers. Two of the other Traveler generational ships had been damaged severely and were now under attack from both Wraith and Replicator.

And it all culminated with problem four, _Daedalus_ was nowhere near close enough to extract their strike team from the planet and that meant Rodney and Ronon were on their own.

_**Asuras, Power Control Room**_

"Fall back! Defensive positions!"

Ronon fired his blaster twice, knocking the Asuran off his feet impressively, but seeing one of the Marines nearby take fire and drop to the ground without even a scream as his lungs had been carbonized told him this wasn't working. Ronon could see the surprise in the man's eyes as he dropped to his knees and keeled over.

McKay was furiously typing on the console, almost pounding his tablet for some kind of solution to the problem they were facing. Ronon crawled over as the Asurans were now pouring harsh suppressive fire into the room, holding the marines back even as they tried to stand their ground, "McKay! Do something!"

"_I can't!" _McKay's ire was misplaced as he said. "The Replicators got to Fran and _Daedalus_ is too far away! We're trapped!"

A shot came in from the entrance, shattering McKay's tablet as it sat on the console. Ronon growled furiously as he pulled McKay down and avoided the next shot. He blind fired his magnum out the door in a desperate attempt to hold them back. "So blow the ZPMs! Take 'em with us!"

McKay ducked and pulled Ronon along with him. The screams of dying Marines made the moment all the more terrifying. "I can't! I needed my Tablet! I'd have to manually get to each ZPM!"

Ronon leaned out from beside cover, saw a Marine take fire even as he vaporized the Asuran that killed him. He fell back with his chest literally on fire, and shot a few more ARG shots just for effect as he stumbled into a faceplant. "Where?"

_USS Daedalus, Bridge_

"Oh my God…"

Sam made no attempt to hide her horror as she saw one of the Traveler Warships unleash a barrage of red plasma, only to get torn to shreds by a dozen drones that eviscerated the decks of the older craft. They tore through the ancient based shields and ripped the superstructure apart. She didn't know how many people were on that ship, but definitely more than a few lives had been lost as the debris explosively decompressed – the reactor inside detonating and showering Asuras in debris.

Major Marks pulled the ship into a nosedive and scraped the nimble craft's shields against an aggressive Aurora. He called out the casualty. "Traveler three is down! Repeat, Traveler three is down! Other ships are bugging out!"

Caldwell cursed just loud enough for Sam to hear and opened his com frequencies with a slap of his fist on his arm console. "All Earth craft! Abort mission! I repeat, All Earth craft, we are aborting the mission! All pilots RTB!"

Sam said nothing, there was nothing she _could _say. There was no way _Apollo_ was going to be able to get out of the firestorm it was in and of the thirty two F-302's the pair of Earth ships had launched, only fifteen remained.

The nail in the coffin of the mission was seeing another Traveler warship try and enter hyperspace, but taking fire from the Wraith, only charred scraps of debris made it through into the aperture.

_**F-302 Cockpit, Dark Star Titan 7**_

Razor fired his last anti-fighter missile and drew only mild satisfaction that the Dart he'd hit expanded into a silent explosive blossom. So many lives lost, another Wraith didn't make him feel any better.

_"You heard the Colonel! All pilots RTB! Abort mission, abort mission!_"

_Big Mac_'s orders filtered through and _Razor_ knew the mission was FUBAR. The Travelers were gone, and…

_"Oh my god. Seven o'clock low, look at Apollo."_

_Razor_ had seen many heroic things in his life as a pilot, but what he was seeing now made him question everything he once defined as noble.

_**USS Apollo, Bridge**_

Abraham Ellis was dying.

Granted, everybody dies… sooner or later, but few got to see the exact moment when they were going to die, and even fewer willingly flew into it.

He was seated on his command chair, watching the screen ahead of him as they moved towards the Wraith Hive that he assumed the lead Wraith was on. The Wraith son of a bitch was going to die and Abraham Ellis was going to be the one to kill him. "All remaining power to shields. Let our inertia carry us."

Ellis looked around. Two of the seven bridge crew were dead, another three were wounded. Few consoles worked now, and the lights had shut off. There was no way out, and the helmsmen knew it. Slowly the Wraith craft filled the screen – so large and yet, Ellis knew it wouldn't survive.

_**Traveler Aurora, Control Chair Room**_

The last thing Sheppard saw as he pushed the craft into hyperspace was _Apollo_ pushing against the tide of Wraith fire. He knew Ellis was a soldier, but to actually do what he was doing…?

The hit that spread across his back was different, so unlike a Wraith stunner shot. it didn't paralyze, leaving one a few seconds to see who it was who'd shot him. The Traveler blaster was humane, and John slumped out of the chair sideways, only knowing from instinct that Larrin had shot him.

_**Asuras, Hallways leading to ZPM Room**_

There was still so much for him to do, still too many Nobel prizes to win. What would happen to the Nobel Prize for world peace and physics when he finally created human built zero point energy? And the look of jealousy on Sheppard's face when some ridiculously hot science bimbo gave him a huge hug and kiss while in front of millions of people? Perhaps not Sam Carter, but who knew?

The Marine that pushed him out of the way and took the Asuran energy bolt for him said it all. It wasn't going to happen. The way his face drained of blood, and the words that didn't make it to his mouth went to his eyes instead, begging for Rodney to keep running. He turned to Ronon who screamed and returned fire –few marines left as the Asurans chased them through the facility towards the ZPM room.

Death was an enigma to Rodney; he still didn't know what lay beyond. But from the looks of it, he just might find out today.

* * *

Ronon thought Death was something to be welcomed, but avoided. The passing itself was no enigma, you get shot, stabbed, have the life drained out of you and you die. The only afterlife was ascension, and only the best were able to achieve it.

Dragging McKay along kicking and screaming told him neither would be ascending anytime soon, although McKay had had his chance the year before. But like him, the scientist was unwilling to leave this life without finishing what he was set out to do. And all that was left was to detonate the ZPM in the room fifty feet away…

_"Aggh! Urggh!" _McKay screamed suddenly.

Ronon came to a halt, and the three marines left instantly had the same thought. He turned - McKay was down, his left calf now burned to a crisp amidst his shrieks of agony, time was running out. _"McKay!"_

McKay's tears were flowed freely, his lungs screeching in anguish. The small backup PDA he had was cradled in his arms as he flopped around on the floor like a fish on dry land. At that moment, Ronon saw in McKay's eyes the realization that he was going to die. _"Mmrrrgh… Ronon… you have to… ARGHH… take this…plug it in…!"_ he repressed another stabbing squeal of anguish, even as more plasma bolts flew overhead. Ronon ducked and weaved, stunning yet another Asuran with his Traveler Blaster. _"…Do it Ronon! It's automatic! It'll blow the ZPM!"_

Shoving the PDA into Ronon's hands, McKay allowed himself to fall back and wail in torment. His leg was gone, Ronon knew that much about weaponry. Even if he survived it was more than likely he'd need a prosthetic for the rest of his life… that is _if_ he survived.

Ronon hesitated only for a millisecond. Leaving McKay behind was tantamount to betrayal. But seeing the three remaining Marines dig in and load the last of their clips, Ronon realized that he had to do this. This was McKay's last wish and he'd be a cruel monster to say no. "Last stand!" Ronon screamed. "Hold the line!"

_**USS Daedalus, Bridge**_

The screams coming in through the radio were muffled by static, but to Sam's ears they were perfectly legible.

_Apollo_ had gone in, guns blazing, with what few guns it had left. Wraith Plasma and Drone fire washed in, buckling the shields that should have long ago been depleted. Ellis must had diverted all power to them in a last ditch effort to get close.

The Asgard reactors that powered _Daedalus_ and _Apollo_ weren't exactly the kind that had a safe way of falling apart. In fact, it would probably be as big as a Mark 8 Nuke. Even more, the _Apollo_ was carrying more than a fair share of Naquadria nukes as part of its regular armament. If they'd taken the safeties off…

"Mother of God." Caldwell's words were the only sound other than screaming and static over the radio, and now the sight of _Apollo_ - or rather the charred husk of what remained of _Apollo_ - ramming nose first into the gut of the Wraith hive.

As it crumpled in against the Wraith armor, chunks of the _Apollo's _alloy shattered off, spinning around like debris around a comet. Smoke and trails of fire twisted behind the craft cutting a swath across the Asuran-held space.

The _Apollo_ dug deep into the Wraith Hive, metal twisting around organic armor. Even as the two ships ground into each other, they still fired any weapons they had. At such close range, the sudden and eerily silent detonation of the Asgard Reactor gave the final point to the Battle of Asuras. The blast blinded everyone on the bridge until the polarization let them see what was happening. Sam fought down her stunned shock as she dropped the hand she'd used to protect her eyes and said. "Colonel Caldwell… we need to go, now!"

Caldwell turned a stunned expression to Sam, and realized that she was making the right call. Caldwell huffed in shock before giving his orders. "Agreed. Major, get us into hyperspace."

Marks hesitated; Sam knew there were still four 302s trying to land. "…Yes, sir."

Sam bit back her voice, her emotions shoved down deep as the broken and burning wrecks of the _Apollo_ and Wraith Hive spread out along the nuclear firestorm, taking out another Wraith Hive and two Auroras that had been chasing _Apollo_ down.

Pointless. Sam realized it was all so…pointless.

_**Asuras, Outside ZPM Room**_

Ronon was almost to the ZPM room. Death welcomed him into its arms as he looked inside; explosions outside and a chariot of zero point energy explosive firepower before him.

The crystalline object glowed almost unnaturally, a type of life that Ronon both loved and hated. He knew nothing of what Zero Point Energy was, and if he was honest, he really didn't care. Nothing really mattered much at this point. All that was left was finding a connection that would accept this doohickey plug on this Tablet.

He rushed forward, firing his gun blindly behind him now assured that it was almost over. Ronon crouched behind the console once he reached it and fired into the hallway even as he searched for the input plug.

* * *

The last Marine defending McKay screamed, his chest turned into a charred brick from multiple plasma hits. Rodney tried to crawl away but was instead spewed his stomach contents on the floor. All he wanted was for it to be over, for this almost minute of torment to end.

But it didn't, and instead of shooting him, the lead Asuran took a hold of his good leg and began to drag him away. Rodney forced his pain away just to scream. "Ronon! Do it! Blow them all to hell!"

* * *

The crisis tore Ronon apart. McKay _wasn't_ dead… _the goddamn nanite bastards hadn't killed him!_ But, the ZPM; Ronon had to detonate it. Finally finding the plug where he thought the connection fit, Ronon resisted screaming as he fired off the last of his clip then jammed the plug towards the input.

His hand never made it. Instead a familiar feeling, one that made Ronon wish he could scream.

But he couldn't. As the Wraith culling beam that had been directed at the ZPM also beamed up Specialist Ronon Dex, leaving Doctor Rodney McKay alone on the Asuran planet. "Ronon! Blow it! Ronon!? _RONON!"_

_**USS Daedalus, Hallways**_

The shock still hadn't worn off, and Sam lethargically moved through the corridors of the ship trying to find… something. She didn't know what she was looking for. The Infirmary on the _Daedalus_ was designed to handle ten to thirty people with mild to moderate injuries. Now though, as fully fifty-five people from all over the ship were being treated, the medics on board were stressed almost beyond their limits.

Sam tried to take some solace that they were at least alive, that through some sheer dumb luck they had survived the battle. _Apollo_ wasn't nearly as lucky, and preliminary estimates put the total at some 200+ casualties.

Ronon and Rodney were counted as part of those 200; Rodney as a USAF Civilian Contractor, and Ronon as a Foreign Dignitary.

"Excuse me Ma'am… this corridor is offline for repairs. You'll have to go around."

Sam looked at the Lieutenant manning the bulkhead door as she walked. When had he popped up? She was so deep in her thoughts she'd missed him. Sam wondered what could have happened to seal a whole corridor off. "Repairs? What happened?"

The Lieutenant gulped, and he couldn't meet her gaze as he replied. "Drone impact, Ma'am. Took out the hull. This corridor's exposed to space now."

Sam fell back on her training, emotions were cast aside and knowledge and Intel was all that mattered. "Casualties?"

The Lieutenant couldn't hold back everything and his face trembled. "Yes Ma'am, three technicians and…"

Someone important… someone that everybody on the ship knew had been deemed a casualty. Sam had been reluctant to look at the list out of simple fear, but now she wished she had so the pain of what was about to happen would be lessened. "…Who, Lieutenant?

"Chief Engineer Novak, sir… as far as I know she's in the infirmary with decompres…"

Without bothering to wait for more, Sam quickly rushed off and ran through the detour to the infirmary. So many people had died, so many were wounded… the saying was right, war _is_ hell.

_**USS Daedalus, Briefing Room**_

Caldwell looked over the damage report from Acting Chief Engineer Thompson. The _Daedalus_ was lucky to still be in one relative piece from the looks of it. The briefing room was quiet as only he and his XO were present – no one else had to be privy to this except Carter and she wasn't going to like it anyway. Major Marks worked on a console opposite him tallying casualties and repair wait times. "Any word from the Travelers?"

Marks shook his head gravely. They'd been waiting for hours at the rendezvous point and nothing. "No, sir. Right before we jumped out we had two confirmed KIA's on their end. Two to six hundred estimated dead."

"Estimated?" Caldwell tried not to think of the ironclad fact that two hundred and thirteen people on _Apollo_ were certainly dead, and taking out a pair of Hives and Aurora's each with that final spiteful move was only marginally comforting.

The Major nodded, and took a moment to rub the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. They didn't want to give us any inventory or personnel list, so I'm guessing, sir."

It was with a heavy heart that Caldwell wished that the Major was overestimating, but knowing that the Travelers only lived on ships, it was unlikely. "Wraith?"

Marks tried not to smile; maybe he took some comfort in the losses the Wraith took. "Five KIA. Only two Hives bugged out as far as we know."

Narrowing his eyes, and hoping for even more retribution for the betrayal, Caldwell asked softly. "The head Wraith's hive?"

Marks pumped his fists. "One of the two that got away."

Caldwell sighed and muttered. "Figures." Major Marks was someone he talked to frequently, and one of the only subordinate officers he felt he could trust implicitly. "God, I wish that son of a bitch was dead."

Marks tugged on his nose, stretching the tight, tired skin of his face. Letting his nose go, Caldwell could see he was feeling every bit of tension and anguish a man could feel after losing a battle, Marks nodded his head once. "Let's hope he pops up again once we get the ship back in fighting shape."

Caldwell tossed the padded tablet onto the table in front of him and sighed. "Well, that'll be awhile. Thompson's exact damage report is pretty sure the only thing holding this ship together is the collective will of every soldier on board." He took a second to flex his fist and rubbed his mouth where stubble had begun to grow.

It was too frustrating. The battle had only lasted fifteen minutes and they'd suffered so many losses. Granted everyone went in knowing it was a hopeless battle to win under normal circumstances, but nobody made mention that Doctor McKay had probably died trying to implement his plan.

Marks nodded and sighed. "I'm one of those, sir. Speaking of which, have you heard anything about Lindsay?"

Caldwell knew the Major was close with his Chief Engineer. It was easy when they spent so much time together on this ship. "Lieutenant Novak is pretty banged up, Major. Doctor Breslin put her in an induced coma until we get back to Atlantis. Said she might not make it past the night but to pray."

Very rarely did any soldier in the SGC become emotional, only the best soldiers were selected for the program. Caldwell knew Marks was only concerned for a friend. "Pray to who, sir?"

The question caught Caldwell off guard, and he himself began to wonder. There really was only one way he could answer the question. He turned slowly towards Marks and sighed softly. "…Anyone who'll listen, Major."

_**USS Daedalus, Infirmary**_

Stepping into the curtained area where the orderly had told Sam to look, she gasped. _'Oh God, Lindsay…'_ Sam thought, resisting actually saying those words. Seeing the dozens of wounded technicians, crewmen, and even Marines being tended to by the understaffed medical wing. They didn't have enough beds so there were people sitting on the floor or laying down on blankets. One technician had gotten into a corner and coveres his head with his arms – Sam recognized the shock and wished it could all go away. It all culminated with seeing her old friend on the infirmary bed.

Lieutenant Novak's face was swollen and red, her uniform torn and shredded. A BVM was attached to her and forced her lungs to breathe the oxygenated air. Her EKG and EEG were very slow – all signs of a coma.

Sam moved forward and stood by the bed. She looked down at the normally nervous young woman who lay before her. It wasn't _right._ Lindsay was a gentle person, a good person… how could this have happened? How could _any_ of this happen?

A Marine Captain came up beside Sam and saluted, but it was a resigned salute. "Sir, Colonel Caldwell's finished going over the casualty report. He said you might want to go over it too."

The Marine handed the tablet to Sam, which was the last thing she could have possibly wanted. She noticed the tremble in the Marine's hand, a tremble she forced her hand to hide. She held it tightly – refusing to look at it. "Thank you, Captain, Dismissed."

With a curt nod, the Captain fell back into the shadows.

Sam took another look at Lindsay, prayed to God that the nervous Lieutenant was a fighter then steeled herself to look down at the report.

Two Hundred and Fifty-Two confirmed KIA – _Apollo_'s entire crew, twenty eight F-302 pilots, and another fifteen on _Daedalus_.

Twelve MIA on Asuras, Ronon's strike team along with Rodney. Sam knew the Asurans would have likely killed them, but the thought of any of those men being tortured as only a replicator can torture a human was unbearable.

One additional MIA; Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. John had become a good friend to her in the last few months and now he was gone. John could be dead, he could be alive - but wherever he was, he wasn't likely to be in a good position. Sam selfishly almost wished John _had_ been killed just so those left behind wouldn't have to worry about him.

Almost… almost didn't mean she did though. John was a fighter at heart. And Sam knew that if he had any say in the matter, Atlantis would always be his ultimate destination… no matter how badly he'd been hurt. With so much lost already, Sam sorely wished to take at least one name off the Grim Reaper's list.

_**Traveler Aurora, Storage Unit**_

John closed his eyes and braced himself. This reproduction of his first meeting with Larrin was getting a little too out of hand. He hoped that the woman came to her senses soon. The slap that jarred his head to the side was sharp, as was the pain on John's left temple. The sharp stinging pain wasn't the blunt fist he'd expected. "Ow! Dammit, Larrin. You think I _wanted_ this to happen?"

John struggled against his bonds, but Larrin apparently was a sailor in a former life and the knots only tightened as John fought. Larrin was in the worst mood he'd ever seen her and John worried she might kill him out of pure spite. "Of _course_ not, but it was _your_ plan and it failed. How the hell am I supposed to go tell my people we've lost two ships and these Replicators are unstoppable?"

John didn't have an answer, and instead of a slap, this time her knuckles cracked against his cheekbone breaking the skin. Oddly he preferred that to the stinging sensation. Somehow, he had to convince her. Through some sheer force of will, John Sheppard had to convince Larrin to spare his life and rethink their plans. Not only because John didn't want to die, but now he had the distinct feeling that the Travelers might be the only ones capable of surviving the onslaught that was sure to come.

_**Asuras, Main Research Centre**_

Rodney opened his eyes and instantly shut them again. The face before him was one he'd wished never to see again but there was little he could do about 'd been restrained at the waist and extremities, but for some strange reason his leg wasn't screaming in agony. The whole world seemed wishy washy with a thickness to the air.

He tried to move his leg and was surprised when he felt a fluid wash past only mildly stinging. Had it all been a horrible dream?

No, no, it was real. He opened his eyes again, the look of the imposing man standing before him made Rodney want to scream. He was distorted from the glass of the fluid filled tube he was in. "Hello, Doctor McKay, I am _quite_ glad you could join us."

* * *

Oberoth was intrigued with the specimen before him. The last time he had probed his mind it had been… fascinating. But now, when the semi-conscious Doctor McKay was brought before him badly wounded, mere moments from death, something extraordinary had happened.

McKay had resisted and he did so _effectively_. The doctor's brain was much more advanced than the previous time Oberoth had probed him and it was impossible to read more than just a glimpse into his thoughts and knowledge.

Something had forced his brain to undergo a staggering evolution and back and the remnants of that evolution had remained. It was _not_ an invincible force. Oberoth could tell instantly that, with time and patience, he would crack the Doctor's brain and reap the knowledge within. Considerably more knowledge that Oberoth hadn't expected.

It had been sheer genius to attempt to force the Nanite attraction fields to overload; the entire Asuran race had very nearly been extinguished. Perhaps Oberoth could learn more from this specific human. Most importantly, the location of any feeding grounds the Wraith may flee to.

To Oberoth the galaxy was known as Avalona, the adopted home of his creators - its location lost to the ages - but to those that mattered it was known as the Milky Way Galaxy, and Oberoth would do absolutely anything to ensure the Wraith never fed on the people that lived there, even if it meant burning every world to ash.

_**Todd's Hive, Control Room **_

Ronon breathed heavily and struggled vainly against his restraints. "Cowards."

Todd growled softly in front of Ronon. The way things had worked out so perfectly with Ronon accidentally being right there when the Dart beamed up the ZPM indicated to him that the plan he'd created might indeed be useful. The other Wraith had wanted to feed on his strength, but Todd had forbidden it. "Perhaps for the moment, but with our spoils of war, our bravery shall outshine this day in history."

Ronon made a frenzied howl of wrath as he desperately tried to reach out and strangle him. It didn't matter, Todd had gotten away with what he wanted and now he set about to change the face of the galaxy.

_**Atlantis, Control Room**_

As the wormhole stabilized, Sam rubbed eyes gritty from lack of sleep. To say she wasn't looking forward to this moment was an understatement. The entire control room staff was on edge. There had been rumors swirling about, but everyone was ordered to remain quiet about what had happened. With only _Daedalus_ having made it back, the events of the battle of Asuras were being kept very secret… at least until now. "Open video uplink; get me the SGC."

Chuck nodded and tried to keep the shock that only Sam had returned off his face. "Uplink established, General Landry and the IOA council on the line."

Sam moved over to the screen where the screen showed General Landry, Mr. Woolsey, along with representatives from several IOA nations all seated at the conference table at the SGC. Before taking her place, she looked to the control room staff. "Everyone, clear the control room, please."

No one said a word. They just silently got up out of their seats and moved towards the exits. General Landry's face drained of blood as he realized what was about to happen, with the IOA members more confused than anything. "Colonel Carter, report."

Waiting till she was alone, Sam input the information that she, Colonel Caldwell, and Major Marks had gathered on the battle. "I'm sending all pertinent information. It is my sad duty to inform you that the mission was unsuccessful. Our plan failed, the Asurans were able to resist the effects of Doctor McKay's attraction field. When we confirmed the failure, the Wraith turned on us. _Apollo_ is… gone, all crewmen lost. Colonel Ellis knew his ship was too badly damaged and took several Wraith and Asuran ships with him. The strike force we sent planet side including Doctor McKay and Specialist Ronon Dex is lost as well, as is Colonel Sheppard who is MIA on the Traveler Aurora. The Travelers sustained two ship losses and refuse to acknowledge any communication from us. _Daedalus_ is crippled and was barely able to limp back to Atlantis. Repairs are estimated at a month and a half given our resources and staffing."

The information scrolling on the screens at the SGC made the IOA council members very quiet. When they had approved the first strike months ago, and again this all out assault, this was the last thing they had expected. Almost as one, they began to argue amongst themselves, with only Woolsey taking the time to go back to the camera where Landry was uncharacteristically silent.

The politician's words were somber and Sam knew it was the closest he would ever get to an emotion other than fear. His words still cut deep though, and it was a task in and of itself not to wince at their implication. "Colonel Carter, I believe that the IOA may have to _reassess_ our mission in Pegasus."

The last five words were a dagger to Sam's heart.

_**Todd's Hive, Control Room**_

Four more inches, that's all Ronon wanted. Four more inches and he could bite the Wraith's throat out, just see to just how much healing power the Wraith really had. "What are you doing?"

The Wraith tapped on the screen as the other Hive neared. The bridge was mostly deserted, most of the Wraith crew resting after the battle. With so few to feed on, Ronon had seen how the Wraith had weakened. "Does it matter to you? I would think my pet would only care to be well treated."

Ronon lunged forward but felt the shackles hold him down, this wasn't like any of his prior experiences with the Wraith and he knew that this Wraith had something sinister planned for him. "I'm not your pet! Let me go and I'll show you just what I think of you!"

With a shrug, the Wraith waved him down. "Perhaps later. For now all you need to know is I'm the only thing keeping you alive. My Sub-Commander was quite fancy on feasting on your fortitude, but I forbade it."

Ronon hated alliteration; it always made him feel as if the person were mocking him. Ronon snarled at the Wraith. "Put me and him in a room. Let _us _figure it out."

The Wraith opened hailing frequencies with the Hive ahead of him. "When I lose my interest in you; for now, silence." With no hesitation, he pulled out his stunner pistol and sent a trio of stun bolts into Ronon's chest. The already kneeling Satedan slumped down, fighting it every step of the way. But it was too much for even his physiology and consciousness left him.

* * *

The other Hive's queen came on the screen, and she hissed at Todd. "I was beginning to think you were nothing more than a ghost. Reports of the battle were not favorable."

Todd smiled, and he replied deadpan. "I have lived for ten thousand years, and with the Zero Point Energy Modules I now have aboard, I plan to continue living for another ten thousand."

The Queen grinned deviously, and she made a motion with her face. Alarms suddenly rang over Todd's head and the surprise was evident on his face. The Queen's tone was quite amused. "Perhap, but under _my_ rule."

Were the Satedan awake, he would have been privy to see the best laid plans of a wily old Wraith fall completely apart.

**January 8****th****, 2008**

_**Atlantis, Colonel Carter's Office**_

Sam didn't know what to do now as she stared out of her office. Major Lorne was sitting in front of her, the defacto new Military Commander of Atlantis. "We've just received the shipment of Trinium for _Daedalus_. You need to sign off on the shipping receipt." How did they die? Were they even dead? The Replicators were notorious for keeping their captives alive… for a _long_ time. "Colonel?" And Sheppard - there was no word at all from the Travelers. He had been officially declared MIA and likely KIA. "Colonel?" … Added to the hundreds dead already, Atlantis was suddenly not such a fairy tale to be commanding. "Carter."

Hearing her name jarred her back to reality and Sam couldn't help but give Lorne a surprised expression. "Yeah, uh yeah. Shipping. Trinium. Right." With a quick and rough move, Sam grabbed the pad and using her digital pen, scribbled down her signature. She quickly got back to her work and the remaining AR teams reports.

Lorne stopped his work for a moment and looked like he wanted to say something, but seeing that Sam was obviously not in the mood to talk about it, and not seeming too comfortable himself, changed the subject. "I've recommended Lieutenant Cadman be put in charge of AR-2. She's got the Pegasus experience and only the lack of needing officers has kept her a Lieutenant."

Sam swallowed the lump in her throat. Certainly there were many openings since the battle last week. "I agree, and you're going to be taking charge of AR-1."

Lorne shifted uncomfortably in his chair, speaking about Sheppard made him agitated, especially since it seemed that he was trying to fill the man's shoes now. "Uhh… actually I wanted to talk to you about that."

With a shake of her head Sam pushed forward. Soldier Sam was a cruel black widow and Evan Lorne had better not be trying to play on her sympathy. "We need a flagship team, Major. Your team is the most experienced and since everyone on AR-1 is either KIA or… _indisposed_."

Lorne winced, and his right fist curled reflexively. "… Yes, ma'am."

Sam knew she was being harsh and decided to frost it with just a hint of concern. "I know this is difficult, Major, we're all feeling it. But you and I are now the leaders of this expedition and everyone is looking to us for guidance. So I want you to take a day and choose a new team to lead."

Lorne nodded and sighed. "Yes, Ma'am…" He took a few seconds and looked Sam straight in the eyes. "… He's alive, you know?"

Sam looked away, she refused to speculate on things that could potentially hurt that much. "I'm praying. But we can't stall out. I need you to think clearly, Major." Sam realized that Major Lorne had worked with Sheppard for almost three years. Obviously they had a strong camaraderie. "Take the rest of the day off. Choose a new team but don't do any paperwork."

Major Lorne shifted uncomfortably. "No no… it's alright Ma'am. I'll get a new team chosen and finish up the new inventory. We're still expecting more technical staff to assist in repairing _Daedalus_."

Sam hated every minute of this. This was _not_ the auspicious first command she had envisioned. Instead of leading a marvelous city, she now led an expedition tainted with death and the stench of depression. Once Lorne was out of her office, she tossed her pen onto the tablet and just began to think.

_**Traveler Aurora, Storage Unit**_

"This is pointless you know."

Larrin didn't bother to pay attention and instead put her foot to John's chest. "Makes me feel better."

With a slight shove, John toppled over with his chair and slammed into the ground. His body was already aching from being tied up for so long, and his throat was parched with thirst. This room was all he'd seen and only the basics had been given to him. He must have _reeked. _"_Urgh! _Dammit… Come on Larrin, we can still work together! You know as well as I do that the Replicators won't stop now."

Larrin walked around him, noting just how ragged John's breath was. Amazingly despite the beating she'd given him, John continued to talk. "Oh? How long did it take your pretty little head to figure that out?"

With a snort, John shook his head in frustration. "Dammit, I'm trying to _help you!_ Just because we lost the battle doesn't mean we have to lose the war!"

Her foot pushed against his thigh and the chair fell over onto it's side taking John into a very uncomfortable tied sitting position. Larrin stared at him as she crouched down face to face. "Oh? And exactly what can your people do? You've already lost one ship, and I'm not risking anymore of mine!"

Without an immediate answer, Larrin got up and stormed off. She motioned to her second in command to get some food into Sheppard so they could continue later. John felt that this was going all in the wrong direction.

_**Pegasus Planet (?)**_

_**Dr. Rodney McKay**_

Rodney turned towards Sheppard, his voice sounding odd. "Dial the gate, Rodney."

Rodney shook his head vehemently, something… no… _everything_ was wrong with this. "What!? No! You dial it!"

Sheppard rolled his eyes and scoffed. "What, you forget the address? Figures."

To his side, Sam stood with an annoyed glance. What she was doing here on some random forest world was unknown. The leader of the expedition didn't come with them on missions often. "I bet you're the kind of guy to stand in an elevator next to the buttons and not press them."

It wasn't real… _it wasn't real!_ "No! Dammit I know who you are! Don't try and tell me otherwise because I can see you!" There was a glow, something too off about them for Rodney to fall for it. _How _he saw it was a mystery, but he just knew.

Rolling her eyes, Sam scoffed. "You know, Rodney, for a pretty smart guy you can really be a moron sometimes."

Rodney could see it all. He could see the fakeness… the one-dimensional aspect of what he was seeing. Nothing made sense and he couldn't tell _how_ he could see it, or even sense it. But he knew that this just wasn't real. "That might be, but the real Sam Carter would never talk like that!"

Sighing, Sam turned around and vanished in frustration. Fake-Sheppard rolled his eyes as well and muttered. "You can't keep this up forever. You _will_ tell us what we want to know."

Rodney shook his head, but suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his temple. "Urgghh… maybe… but you're gonna have to do a lot more than just impersonate my friends…!"

A hand came down on his shoulder, and suddenly Rodney was back in the real world… at least it felt like the real world. What looked like Atlantis – but obviously wasn't stood before him. Oberoth stood in front of him him as he was forced to stay on his knees. "As you wish."

No matter how many times it happened, Rodney still let out a momentary shriek of anguish as Oberoth shoved that nanite hand into his brain for what seemed the millionth time.

_**January 9**__**th**__**2008**_

_**USS Daedalus, Briefing Room**_

Sitting in her office, Sam listened to Mr. Woolsey as he explained the politics going on back on Earth. _"We've begun deliberations, Colonel. The Free Jaffa Nation has requested to be a party as well and we're still waiting for their delegates."_

Sam didn't know whether to feel reassured or not. While Bra'tac and Teal'c were imposing figures in the fledgling Jaffa democracy, hardliner Jaffa extremists were still the majority. "Will you be bringing up my proposal?"

On the other side of the screen, Woolsey hesitated a moment then nodded. _"Yes, however I myself will not be presenting it in order to prevent the look of bias on the IOA's part. General Landry and General O'Neill have offered to be your proxies."_

For the first time in awhile, Sam felt the urge to smile. It didn't happen though, despite her old friend's support. "That's good to hear. I hope the Jaffa and the IOA understand that…"

_"Colonel… " _With an exasperated sigh, Woolsey leaned into the screen conspiratorially. "_I know you have high hopes for an evacuation en masse, but you must understand that these things are political and very volatile. Ever since your inability to defeat the Replicators with your unconventional tactics, many have lost faith in the expedition."_

Sam felt like screaming, she felt like telling Woolsey to get off his cozy chair in the Milky Way and come look at the true face of war in Pegasus. What hurt the most was that it seemed her thirteen years of faithful and unquestionable loyalty to the Stargate Program – with the odd hiccup – were completely ignored. "Even so, I find it hard to believe that the Jaffa government and the IOA especially would be willing to see Pegasus civilians die needlessly."

_"It has nothing to do with that, Colonel Carter."_ Woolsey sighed harshly and looked off to the side. _"It has to do with the political relationship between the Jaffa Government and the IOA. We're already infamous for bringing the hammer down on the galaxy when it comes to meeting hostile species, and the IOA does not want to be responsible for another galactic catastrophe."_

Sam froze, what was Woolsey saying? "Excuse me?"

_"I will tell you plainly that the biggest concern of both the Jaffa and IOA is that either the Wraith, or worse still, the Asurans will see an evacuation of Pegasus as a guide rail to the Milky Way. The Wraith have already attempted an invasion and we are reluctant to risk another."_

Sam couldn't help but catch his wording. "'We'?"

Woolsey became slightly flustered, and became very still. _"My point is that at its very core, Atlantis is still just an expedition and, if necessary, an expedition that can be recalled."_

Rather than snipe back with a retort, Sam just shut off the monitor and walking away. Her only consolation was that on the other end, she still had allies who gladly took her side.

_**Wraith Planet, Holding Cell**_

The cell was barren of all but the most basic needs, just a bench for him to sit down and contemplate his doom. A bucket to the side looked less than appealing. The ease of his capture had been surprising, but not wholly fruitless.

"Serves you right."

Todd made no attempt to reply to the Satedan's remark. Granted, yes… this wasn't what he had planned, but for the most part it was still perfectly possible to come out on top. Especially since he had planned for every circumstance to extreme measure. One doesn't live to ten thousand without learning to cover all your vulnerabilities.

The rival Hive had taken the ZPMs on board and had brought him to the primordial cloning facility. Todd could understand why they would think it was the best course of action. It was this facility which had created the forces needed to defeat the Lanteans of old, and the temptation to use it against the Asurans now that they had the power to use it was quite alluring. But the problems using it would create were larger than the benefit, a vast problem indeed. Drones needed only to feed periodically, but when dealing with thousands or gods forbid, _millions_… Not to mention the number of ships that would need to be fed as well…

Already there was a shortage of food in the galaxy, and the Asurans were quickly wiping out what was left. Todd had seen what lack of food would create, and the abominations that cannibalism created were… distasteful to say the least.

But Todd had prepared for this. In fact, he had planned to come here anyway. The only difference would be that he would be short a few ZPMs for his master plan, but if things worked out, Pegasus would only be a stepping stone.

" I hope they feed on you first."

Oddly enough, the Satedan's wish could yet come true, and Todd's last hope came from the Satedan's pure hatred of Wraith.

**Morbing, January 9****th****, 2008**

_**Stargate Command, Conference Room**_

"Oh fer cryin' out loud… what _are_ you people, robots? We're talkin' bout a whole damn galaxy! Not just some backwater planet."

It felt lonely to be sitting at the table with the dozen representatives from across the Galaxy. So far, Teal'c was the only Jaffa willing to listen, which told scores of his humanity compared to the emotionless faces of the IOA. "I'm sorry General, but we have to consider more than just the lives in Pegasus."

Rarely did Jack O'Neill ever feel the need to strangle someone, Robert Kinsey had been one of the biggest, but this was definitely taking the cake as far as frustration. "One planet. Hell it doesn't even have to be a populated planet, From the report Carter sent us, most people coming through are _farmers_."

The new head of the IOA, a spindly looking man named Mr. Coolidge, leaned forward and got everyone's attention. "General, that's exactly the point I and my Jaffa associates are trying to make. They know nothing of technology or survival in a technological galaxy. The Wraith have been overshadowing them for millennia and the giant change coming here would only create panic and discord among them."

Landry growled softly and deadpanned. "Still better than being dead."

"While I do agree with General Landry," Teal'c's deep voice drew everyone's attention. "I also understand my fellow Jaffa's fears. Stability has still not been restored in this galaxy, and many factions of minor Goa'uld and the Lucian Alliance still remain. I would be hesitant to bring such a simple people here only to have them become fodder for such figures."

Another Jaffa named Al'Mac, the current leader of the Jaffa council nodded. "They would become vermin, spread out across the galaxy causing only trouble. I do not doubt that many would even become mercenaries in the employ of false gods and evil men."

This argument was going nowhere, and Jack was hard pressed not to start accusing them of being as robotic as the ones they feared. "Who says we can't help them? The Nox are still around. They're all peace and love."

Instantly Mr. Woolsey spoke up having been uncharacteristically quiet in the debate. "I believe I speak for all my comrades when I put forth my objection. The Nox have been reluctant to speak to either Human or Jaffa ever since the Jaffa Rebellion. We have been attempting to reach some level of trade and negotiation with them, but asking them to help us save an entire galaxy would be too much."

Now Jack really wanted to kill someone. In the machination of the universe, somehow he had joined these cogs of utter imbecility, and sorely wished he could just renounce his position as General and go help Sam kick some ass.

_**Atlantis, Mess Hall**_

In the grand scheme of things, Teyla didn't consider herself to be that important. As much as her leadership of the Athosian people meant to her, having them still missing was only a small part of the ebb and flow of the universe. Despite this, it still felt as if a portion of her heart had been shorn off, savagely ripped from her chest as if from some wild animal attack.

The loss of her closest friends, and the depressive attitude around Atlantis was taking its toll on her. For weeks, Teyla had been opposed to Dr Keller's idea of becoming somewhat more sedentary. With no one to spar or walk with now, and those who remained, busy like never before, Teyla felt truly alone for the first time since walking into her village and seeing nothing but rubble.

"Hey, Teyla… Jennifer told me I could find you here."

Teyla turned in her seat in the mess hall and smiled softly at Major Lorne. As strange as it seemed, Major Lorne had been a new and strong support for Teyla, he himself bringing her the news that Ronon and Rodney were likely dead and Sheppard was MIA.

Strangely, the news only affected her somewhat stronger than other similar events. Loss had become a part of Teyla's life, and the only relief Teyla ever found was with silently bearing the pain while showing none except to her closest friends… of whom there were few now. "Major Lorne. To what do I owe the attention?"

Evan sighed softly then sat down across from her with a small tray of food. "Jennifer told me she's worried about you, and frankly I was going to come see you anyway."

Teyla smiled and nodded. "I appreciate the concern, but it is not necessary."

Evan bit his lip gently and curled his fist in frustration. "I… I know it's been a hard few weeks. We're all feeling it. I'm not-I'm not gonna tell you it's all gonna be okay, but we're here for you, Teyla. That's never gonna change."

It was brutally honest and, try as she might, Teyla couldn't meet Evan's gaze. "I… I am grateful. For everything. While I do wish the others were here, I am confident that I am not without friends." It was a half-lie. There were really only two others Teyla could speak to now. "I count you as one of them, Major Lorne."

Evan shook his hand and took a bite out of his sandwich. "Please, call me Evan."

The galaxy was a cruel place, but even so, little miracles did occur, and one happened then in Teyla's heart as just a fraction of the immense pain she had was healed over. "Thank you. Evan."

_**Wraith Planet, Holding Cell**_

"Tell me, do you really hate the Wraith?"

Ronon almost scoffed, how could this Wriath ask such a stupid question? "How bout we share a cell, then we'll see how much I love you."

The Wraith laughed heartily, which totally confused Ronon as they were likely only moments from being fed on. "Ha ha… well then, if it would mean survival and the death of thousands of Wraith, would you spare a single one?"

Ronon thought about the question, and his answer was quick. "Probably not."

"What would be your deciding factor?"

With a devious smirk, one Ronon had learned from Sheppard, he deadpanned. "Who."

A few more chuckles and the Wraith took a deep breath. "I take that as offence… and I take it gladly."

Ronon rolled his eyes and kept pacing in his cell. When they came to drag him before the Queen or whoever it was that was in charge here, he'd show them just what fury the Satedan people carried within them. "Good, cuz I've got a lot more for you." The smile on the Wraith's face only grew, and Ronon finally couldn't take it. "Are you serious?"

Feigning ignorance, the Wraith pointed to himself. "Who, I?"

Ronon growled, and contemplated trying to nail the Wraith with one of the blades hidden in his hair just for pure satisfaction. "Yes, you! Are you serious? Do you know a way outta here?" He hated having to ask, but having had more time to consider the question, Ronon might be willing to spare the Wraith's life in exchange for escape and potential genocide against the Wraith.

With a devious grin that just would not stop, the Wraith gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Perhaps, but I require your assistance."

Ronon snarled softly and contemplated it. Could he help this Wraith? Surely the Wraith had something planned, but if worse came to worst, Ronon could always kill him after escaping. "What do you need?"

With a perfectly calm voice, the Wraith motioned to Ronon with his head and muttered. "I require a knife."

Never in his life had Ronon given his weapon to an enemy… but with things going the way they already were, perhaps insanity really was the way to go.

_**Evening, January 8**__**th**__**, 2008**_

_**USS Daedalus, Briefing Room**_

_"Sorry, Carter, Coolidge isn't budging. Teal'c is probably gonna kill him anyway since he called Ish'ta 'Honey' so I wouldn't put asking again in a few weeks aside."_

Sam winced and tried to keep from cursing. Despite the comedy of an angry Teal'c, the denial to evacuate Pegasus civilians from the battlefield hurt more than she thought it would. "Thanks for trying, sir. I'm sure they have _good_ reasons."

The harsh sarcasm wasn't lost on the General, who narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "_Carter… was that __sarcasm__?"_

One of the last reasons Sam had to smile, her tone deadpan. "I had a good teacher."

_"Bull! You had the __best__!"_ A few laughs, hollow, but laughs all the same, and a momentary silence. Sam could tell General O'Neill was trying to cheer her up. "_I do have some good news. Both the IOA and Jaffa are sending relief supplies to Atlantis since I told them you're still taking in refugees. Even they couldn't deny that."_

A huge burden lifted off Sam's shoulders, and if O'Neill were there in person he would be at risk of getting a peck on the cheek. Not exactly according to the rules or even her typical dealings with him, but dammit Sam was ecstatic that there was at least some good news. "That's a relief -no pun intended. We're already to Atlantis's capacity given the mainland, and we've got four teams scavenging whatever they can from any worlds we know. I was about to start checking the caloric value of those ten thousand year old plants it's getting so bad."

General O'Neill grimaced in mock horror. _"Well, before we do that, you can dig into the relief supplies, too. I'm sure there must be Jell-O in there somewhere."_

Sam smiled, and noted the transmission time was almost over. "Thank you, sir. I'll make sure to check. I'll have my appeal to the IOA ready for you tomorrow."

With a curt nod, General O'Neill replied. _"Already got the paperwork ready, See ya tomorrow, Carter."_

"Tomorrow, Sir."

The screen flickered a moment before finally ending and Sam felt just a little better. O'Neill had always been there, always ready to help. But despite feeling a small tinge of selfishness, wanting to go back to the Milky Way now that things had gone completely FUBAR. Sam was unwilling to abandon her post - unwilling to go down without a fight.

_**Wraith Planet, Holding Cell**_

Ronon watched in awe as Todd inserted the knife into his own belly. Nothing could have prepared him to see the Wraith do such a thing. "If you wanted to kill yourself, you could have at least given me the pleasure."

Todd chuckled as he gritted his teeth. He would have to act fast, his healing ability would quickly regenerate him and Todd needed what was inside his stomach. Digging in, the dull gunmetal of the object he'd found on Ronon forced a groan from his lips as he removed it. "It was much easier to _insert_ it than it's proving to remove it…"

Todd finished pulling the small backup PDA out, and gasped as he felt the healing process kick into high gear. He would have to feed soon if he wanted to have any chance of escape. Ronon furrowed his brow in confusion, but after a moment realized what it was. "Hey! That's…"

Todd noticed instantly, and wiped the screen clear of his own blood. "Yes… I assume you were given this by Dr. McKay. Ingenious really; input to any Zero Point Energy module or its controls and it will start an irreversible overload. A shame it did not come into use on Asuras, but then again that's why you're here."

Ronon howled in rage and tried to squeeze his hands through the organic cell doors. Of course his arms would have to be ten feet longer to reach across the room, but the meaning was there. "Give that back!"

Todd cleaned the knife on his coat then taking a moment to sense for any nearby Wraith, flung it out the small openings of the cell and into the organic lock. His aim was true, and the cell doors to his prison opened. "A lesson well learnt. Never be caught without a knife again." Todd took a few steps out, but felt the weakness of hunger force him to the side of the hallway. He stared into Ronon's cell and panted. "I am too weak to escape on my own, and you will never escape without my help."

Ronon reached out to strangle Todd. "You think I care if I live?!"

Todd snarled now, angered by the Satedan's ignorant words. "I am offering you a chance of a lifetime. Do you know what this place is?"

"Don't know, don't care."

"This is where we defeated the Lanteans over ten thousand years ago."

With the startling revelation, The Satedan finally decided to give Todd the time of day. Anything powerful enough to defeat the Lanteans would have struck fear into a human's heart. "What?"

Todd huffed as he tried to keep calm. Excitement would deplete his energy further and that was the last thing he needed. "This is a mass cloning facility. The Zero Point Modules my rivals stole will soon give birth to thousands if not millions of Wraith, something neither of us wants."

Ronon now understood the implication. The Wraith had defeated the Lanteans by drowning them in the very blood they spilled. "Why would you want to stop them? The Replicators are kicking your ass and this sounds like exactly what you need."

"We have little food as it is. With thousands more we will exhaust our food supply even faster…"

Ronon had to get one last rip in before he decided. "You could always eat each other."

Todd didn't bother to reply to such a comment and instead growled. "The decision is yours, but to show my good faith." Todd leaned over and tapped the open function for Ronon's cell. Instantly, the Satedan jumped out and slammed Todd into the ground with fury. A blade was in his hand, where he'd gotten it was a mystery only his cavernous hair could decipher.

Neither said anything, the animosity between them culminating with the blade not one inch from Todd's face.

* * *

Ronon took the second of hesitation to think. He was alive… Rodney wasn't… and now he had a chance to give Rodney's death some meaning.

In Ronon's mind, the PDA this Wraith carried was the last thing Rodney ever asked of him… to detonate a ZPM. Maybe it wouldn't be the replicators he'd blow up, but the Wraith were just as good a target.

* * *

Ronon waited a half a second then lunged out with his leg in a sweep. The Wraith commander quickly fell to the ground following the surprise attack and was stunned from the hard landing. Ronon wasted no time in unsheathing his knife and shoving it deeply into the Wraith's neck, quickly using up all his foe's healing ability.

A few paces behind him, hidden as well, Todd muttered something under his breath. Ronon turned, still wary about this uneasy alliance. "What?"

Todd shook his head and leaned on the wall. "Nothing, but I must feed soon."

Ronon gripped his knife a little harder. "And I care how?"

With a roll of his eye, Todd decided to make a sacrifice he'd hoped never to make. "I will not be able to pilot us out of here to the orbital ring if I am not stronger… I must ask you not kill the next Wraith we see."

Just a little surprise came to Ronon, after all, he _did_ think Todd was a monster. "_Eugh_… no promises."

* * *

Ronon watched with an air of disgust as the Wraith jumped the drone he'd just disabled with a neck strike, and within seconds nothing but a husk remained. "You're a monster."

The Wraith looked disturbingly refreshed, he shot Ronon a look with hate filled eyes. "As are you… and that is what makes you such a worthy adversary." Neither said anything as the Wraith simply handed the PDA to Ronon. "They will discover our escape momentarily. I will retrieve a Dart for our escape."

Ronon snarled and ground his teeth. "Don't bother." He didn't wait for a reply and instead headed towards the area the Wraith had told him the ZPM's were located. The only hope in his mind was that with the pair of stunners, he'd be able to hold off the Wraith long enough to send them all to hell.

The Wraith simply rolled his eyes, and moved stealthily towards the hanger bay.

It wasn't long before Ronon found the room he needed. Alarms now blared indicating the base was on full alert. This place was just too big for them to accurately pin him down. He wished once more that his Traveler Blaster was still with him, wondered if he could ever find a replacement, and silently assured himself that it wouldn't matter.

A pair of Wraith came at him from the front, newly created Drones without even a weapon. Ronon savagely fired stunner bolt after stunner bolt into them, giving them the peace of unconsciousness in the firestorm that was to come.

Ronon recalled Arcturus and the size of that explosion. From what he understood, the energy there was even bigger than a ZPM. But a solar system was nowhere near what he wanted to destroy now and he was confident the trio of ZPM's he was about to overload would crack this entire planet in half.

That appealed to him. This would be by far the most destructive weapon he'd ever unleashed on the Wraith.

The ZPM room ahead of him was unguarded. _Fools_. It was a somewhat simple matter to find a plug that looked like it might support the connection the PDA had and soon even louder alarms and strange but aggressive looking text began to scroll across the screens of the console.

That's when he saw it. Ronon hadn't even realized that the room was so large, or that the facility went so deep. Dozens, hundreds… _thousands_ of Wraith Drone pods were activating.

The realization of just what he'd accomplished was mindnumbing… Todd had been serious that he would indeed kill so many Wraith. It made Ronon wonder exactly how this would go down in history, or whether there would be anyone left to record it.

He took the PDA with him, the last memory Ronon had of Rodney. He'd honored his friend and now, when Ronon met him in the afterlife, it would be a good meeting.

Ronon ran freely, ignoring any Wraith screams or even stunner bolts that flew his way as he tore across the halls of the facility. He was dead, they were all dead. Just a matter of time now. With no

It came as a pleasant surprise when he reached an exit, but Ronon gladly took deep breaths of the pure forest air outside, instead of the reprocessed muck that the Wraith lungs feasted on. Ronon charged up and into the forested mountains, filled with the sun's rays. It felt good on his skin. He wondered if perhaps he could make it all the way to the top before it blew. It would certainly be an amazing thing to see… an exploding ZPM.

But suddenly everything felt wrong again, and the distinctive whine behind him made him howl in bloodthirsty rage. The Wraith had kept his word, and now with the culling beam on his feet, Ronon cursed the Wraith with every last hex he could think of.

_**January 10**__**th**__**, 2008**_

_**Atlantis, Control Room**_

Having been called to the control room, Sam nodded to Chuck as she stepped in. "Any word on what happened?"

Chuck shook his head; it was a damned peculiar sensor reading. "Not a thing Ma'am. None of the refugees know the planet and they care even less. Far as I can tell, it's a small supernova, except there wasn't a star at the epicenter."

Sam recalled seeing a supernova once; in fact she had been the one to _create_ it. The amount of force created was truly astronomical. "That's odd, Maybe we should…" A small alarm began to blare, and Sam turned her head around the control room trying to pinpoint the source. "Report! What is that?"

A new control room technician, Amelia Banks, replied in a confident yet confused tone. "Picking up a subspace signal Ma'am. It matches the one from the Wraith Commander known as 'Todd'."

Sam felt a pang of remorse. Hearing the name of the Wraith he'd named, Almost a week and still no word from Sheppard. She recalled his initial report on the Travelers and how Larrin had threatened to shove him out an airlock. Sam prayed to God that such a thing hadn't happened. "Can you pinpoint it?"

No other words were necessary. Todd had been key in the disaster at Asuras and Sam felt cold ice flow through her veins at what she'd like to do to him… or rather _it_. "Yes, Ma'am… it's coming from this star system."

Summoned by the alarm, Major Lorne stepped into the control room and saw the star system being highlighted. He had no clue as to what the reason was, and spoke out of confusion. "Uh, begging your pardon, Ma'am, but what's so interesting about Sateda?"

Sam furrowed her brow, but quickly got the reference. "Sateda? Sateda! Ronon was a Satedan!"

Lorne simply blinked. "Uh, yeah, that he was."

_**Sateda, Abandoned Building**_

Ronon felt the dull thump in his head of entering consciousness. He hated getting stunned, especially by the Wraith. Had he succeeded? Were the thousands of Wraith he saw being birthed gone? Was this just a dream of having survived? A scuffling nearby told him something was coming near and whatever…or rather whoever… there were a lot of them.

The air tasted sickly sweet, almost like too ripe pineapple and Ronon was worried he'd get drunk from greedily sniffing it in. His heart was pounding… something was very familiar about this place. And that's when it dawned on him, there was something peculiarly familiar about this place… and the realization grabbed his adrenaline gland and squeezed hard.

He struggled to lift himself out of the rubble, a large amount of debris sat on top of him from some unknown attack. Instantly he heard voices… familiar ones. _"Motion! 10 o'clock!"_

The Wraith had kept his promise, the goddamn Wraith bastard had kept his word and saved Ronon, and he'd left him in the only place where he knew he'd be found. "Sheppard!"

More yelling, and soon things became clear. Ronon was lying exhausted in the middle of an abandoned and caved in building - An old Satedan armory. "Who's in there? Show yourself!"

Ronon growled softly and forced his body to move. His life wasn't over yet, and seeing the beams of light cut through the smoky haze surrounding the destroyed building he screamed again. "Sheppard!"

Instead of the dark haired Colonel, two AR teams led by Major Lorne and Cadman breached into the building and quickly secured it. Ronon paid them no mind and instead forced himself to his full height. Lorne's voice was incredulous. "Oh my sweet, Ronon! is that you?"

Ronon nodded and dusted himself off. God his muscles ached. "Is it that obvious? What the hell happened? Where's Sheppard?"

The looks the Marines and Air Force officers shot each other as they covered the huge Satedan said everything Ronon didn't want to hear. He stared at Lorne for a moment then looked down at his stomach. Attached to his shirt was a black bloody handkerchief wrapped around the subspace transponder Todd had left.

Tearing the device from his body, Ronon finally couldn't take it and released his primal rage. Dropping to his knees he howled long and loud, warning the gods themselves of the arrival of his lost friends and allies. Lorne and Cadman didn't begrudge him the feeling.

_**Atlantis, Control Room(?)**_

_**Dr. Rodney McKay**_

"Rodney! We're getting overrun! Dial Earth! "

Frozen in panic, Rodney watched in utter dread as Major Lorne unleashed a barrage of ARG fire into the oncoming Replicator, grimace in horror as it had no effect, then scream as the Replicator smashed him to the side, up and over the railing of the bridge to the control room. He landed hard on the alloys of the Gateroom below, dead or dying, Rodney didn't know which.

Below him, Sam, Sheppard, Ronon and a very pregnant Teyla were holding a last stand against the oncoming replicators, the self-destruct was almost over and only seconds remained. "Dial the gate, Rodney! Please!"

There was no way Rodney would make it, and neither would any of the technicians in the control room with him… how had it come to this?

He began to dial, by God his friends were going to…

Wait… What? How the… "No… this… this can't be right… We have a ZPM!"

In the Gateroom below, Sheppard screamed, "Rodney! Dial the gate _now_!"

Teyla frantically screamed as well, her ARG also useless against the Replicator that had jumped down and finished off whatever may have been left of Lorne with a twenty foot knee drop to the chest. "Rodney! Please! You must finish dialing!"

"No… no it can't be… "You're… you're not Teyla… You're not real… no it can't be…"

Ronon let out a primal scream of wrath and charged forward protecting Teyla. Sheppard and Sam crouched and fired what they could. But the replicator just would not go down. Sam's final scream as she reloaded the ARG was unlike anything he'd ever heard from her. "_Dammit,_ _Rodney_! Do it! Now!"

Rodney watched in horror as the Replicator swatted Ronon's blaster and sword away even as he took fire and crushed the Satedan's ribcage with a punch. It next moved on Sam, but Sheppard threw himself in the way and was instantly killed by a kick that sent him flying across the room.

Rodney couldn't watch anymore and cowered in fear. He kept his hands over his head and tried to drown out the sounds of Sam and Teyla shrieking as the Replicator reached them. "It's not real, they're not real, this isn't Atlantis, it's not real…"

Rodney continually chanted the mantra, just repeating it in his head in his panicky terrorized mental voice. The world seemed to phase in and out around him. "Not real… not real… not real…"

* * *

"The resilience of this one is profound… there is something different about his brain chemistry, he seems to be able to digest the data we share through an organic means. An impressive sight indeed."

Oberoth's second in command, Talia, was much more respectful of this human McKay's abilities than he. The two of them watched as another Asuran probed Rodney's mind without success. Oberoth replied to her impressed thought. "He is nothing but a human, a purposefully inferior life. Resistance can be broken and his will shall erode."

Talia wasn't so sure. It had been months since the incident with Niam, and no matter how much she knew the logical conclusion, the fact that Dr. McKay was continually making the strangest yet utterly effective connections in his mind to defend against the probing was… disconcerting. "Why do we keep him then? The others would have sufficed."

A digital equivalent of a shake of the head and Oberoth leaned forward to look at Rodney as his face grimaced, sweat pouring down his temples and lips trembling. What form of life was so frail as to require sustenance as simple as hydrocarbon chains, protein, glycerols and amino acids? Even the Wraith were more sophisticated as much as Oberoth felt the rage against them. "He came within a hairbreadth of annihilating us. There may be others like him and we must assume they will try again."

Talia didn't enjoy the prospect, but looking at the evidence, it seemed more than a fair assessment. "Perhaps you are right. I should not doubt victory when it is only time that stands in our way."

Rodney gasped loudly as his mind ran through another simulation and yet again he was forced to watch his friends die begging for his help.

_Emotions_… thought Talia, Fear… Hatred, Cowardice, and surprisingly, even some strange sense of courage. Dr. McKay was a very complex simple organism indeed… but the limits of his endurance were still yet to be tested fully.

_**Todd's Hive, Bridge**_

The good thing about being one of the old ones was that to continually survive the machinations of the younger and brasher ones, it gave him an almost invulnerable aura. Todd was one of the longest living Wraith still left, most others having died out in the war with the Lanteans or through sheer stupidity in rivalry.

Todd didn't begrudge his sub-commander for betraying him. It was a common occurrence in Wraith hierarchy. Only the strong were allowed to remain at the top and only the strong would survive for this long.

His new sub-commander was more conservative and Todd had offered him the opportunity of the ages. Only a true fool would have tried to usurp or squander this level of awesome power.

The Asurans were nigh unstoppable now. There simply wasn't enough time to build the ships needed to effectively combat them. And with their food supply quickly dwindling to nothing from overculling and the genocidal rampage of the Asurans.

But now as Todd and his sub-commander bathed in the warm yellow glow of the last two ZPM's Todd had stolen from Asuras, he knew there was a fighting chance. The cloning vats were foolish and only the ignorance and over-confidence of the Wraith queen and her hive had saved them. "You are quite fortunate to have survived my lord. With these modules we may yet have a chance."

Todd knew those words were placating. The modules were notoriously difficult to integrate into Wraith Hiveship physiology. But it wasn't impossible. "You humor me. It will be many months before we can hope to achieve anything worthy with these modules and we must survive until that point. Have you sent the data to all available hives?"

The Sub-Commander hesitated a second, but nodded seeing that Todd was correct to be worried. The video footage of Ronon destroying the cloning operation had struck fear into the heart of all Wraith and the threat to their very existence had quickly eroded most petty rivalry. "Yes, my lord. Many have already sworn their support in defending the shipyard. We can rely on twelve Hives for now. More will come later."

Twelve hives, a massive fleet indeed in these times. To feed them all would be difficult, but there were still heavily populated worlds that had been spared thus far. "Have the three most able ones begin harvesting our backup supplies… I know where we may yet find an abundant food source, and even the Asurans would dare not follow."

The sub-commander furrowed his brow, and kept his tone respectful, "Where is this paradise?"

Todd snarled, and ran his finger along the ZPM in front of him, So much power, so much potential. All he needed was time. "Later, I shall not spoil the feast for you."

He'd only seen inside the SGC, but he recalled Sheppard's determination to save his friend's sister. Most of all Todd recalled the fresh and delectable taste of the Milky Way human; so unlike the worn leatheriness of Pegasus humans. The Milky Way was a banquet waiting to happen and all that remained was holding on long enough to secure the one thing he really needed… Atlantis or more accurately, their database and control crystals.

_**Atlantis, Infirmary**_

Jennifer Keller tried to make herself look very non-imposing as she stood next to Ronon. She was unwilling to risk anyone else if something happened; the huge imposing man in front of her could very well be a facsimile, but if he could do half of what she'd seen Ronon do… "Hold your arm out."

Ronon did as he was told which surprised the Doctor as he typically resented even needing a band-aid. But ever since they'd brought him back from Sateda, where they'd found him lying in a pile of rubble, Rodney's PDA still in his hands… Ronon just wasn't the same anymore.

With a gentle touch, almost scared to injure the Satedan in some way he wasn't already, Jennifer took his arm and used an alcohol swab to clean the dirt from his inner elbow. The IV with glycogen and a very mild codeine drip to take the edge off his pain slipped in effortlessly. It was a stark contrast to how often the man allowed nothing to penetrate his stony exterior. "It's good to have to have you back, Ronon…"

Ronon remained quiet, but gave Jennifer a softer than normal look. It was the best Jennifer could expect from him.

_**Atlantis, Colonel Carter's Office**_

"…at which point we entered the building where the scream we heard came from. We found Ronon and brought him back on the Jumper."

Sam didn't know how to feel, but she knew her instincts were telling her that something was off. Ronon had been on Asuras; she left him there. How did he survive and end up on Sateda of all places?

It was heart wrenching to even think to go see him; Sam never abandoned people – _never_. Could she face Ronon after the battle almost a week ago? "Can we be sure it's him?"

Lorne was a little surprised at the question, perhaps he'd recall that she had an issue with doubles – especially replicators. "Well, Dr. Keller is giving him a physical, but I'll be honest ma'am, his reaction was _pretty_ convincing."

Sam still didn't know what to do, but she trusted Lorne and decided to go against her gut. "What did he do?"

To the side, Captain Cadman got a strange look on her face. "He asked us where Colonel Sheppard was, then he screamed… _really really loud_."

That at least Sam understood, Ronon reminded her of a fresher faced Teal'c, quiet, imposing, yet obviously loyal to his cause. "Probably a cultural thing; The Jaffa have something similar." She couldn't help it, and needed to ask. "…did he mention Rodney or any of the Strike Team?"

Lorne shot his gaze to the side, obviously dejected. " Yeah, the last he saw of McKay, he'd taken fire from the Asurans. He's assuming McKay was KIA."

Sam again almost prayed he was. She knew first hand what anguish Replicator torture could be, and Rodney had been missing for weeks now. "And how he survived?"

Lorne gulped. "He-he was about to overload a ZPM when a Dart flew in and beamed both him and it up."

In a similar manner, Sam's face became pale with terror. "You mean the Wraith were stealing ZPMs?" The thought had occurred to her to attempt a heist during the attack, but with only two ships, and being the heavy firepower for the battle, it was decided at the highest level of the IOA Security Council that even if the technology was destroyed on Asuras, Atlantis's survival as well as its database was more important.

Cadman nodded and pursed her lips. "Ronon says he blew some of them up… but he can't be sure how many ZPMs they got…"

Sam instantly bristled and stood up straight. Her feelings be damned, she needed the story from the horse's mouth. "I'll expect both of your reports on my desk within the hour. I'm going to go talk to Ronon…"

Lorne and Cadman gave their salutes, and the de-briefing was over.

Sam had shoved her frustrations to the side, allowed the full bird Colonel inside to show. Marine Captains were almost literally jumping out of her way as she stomped towards the transporter, the feelings her body emanated certainly denoted that of a career soldier.

Dr. Zelenka was on the other hand quite depressed. Ever since Asuras, he'd been reluctant to take over for Rodney. Not like this was the first time he'd had to cover the stocky Canadian scientist for a prolonged period of time, but the finality of this event left him feeling like a regular foot trying to fill a clown sized level of responsibility.

It didn't seem odd to either as they headed towards the same transporter, the Infirmary was on the same level as the Lab Radek was heading to.

_**Asuras, Main Research Facility**_

Rodney was… the English language didn't have a proper word for the level of exhaustion he'd reached. The Asurans had no concept of prisoner rights and he'd gone without sleep or rest for days.

They kept him alive though, going so far as to clone him a new leg and reattach it using Nanite technology. His body was attached to tubes and IVs that kept his weak organic cells fed and nurtured.

His mind though… Rodney's mind was utterly and completely oppressed. Oberoth had a Replicator attempt to break Rodney's mental firewall 24 hours a day. They were finding it surprisingly more effective than they'd originally anticipated, Oberoth had spent quite a few hours personally trying to break it.

Physical pain didn't work. Rodney had been taken to within a hair of his life in the Replicator dreams, each time he managed to figure out somehow that things were wrong, almost as if he could sense the replicator involvement in such dire circumstances. The Wraith made him fearful, and despite a little more success, the human was still able to remain elusive in his mind.

The one thing that had made him give up the most though – allow just a bit more information through… his emotional state. Watching his closest friends and even family killed weakened him, even as he screamed that it wasn't real, the continued torture chipped at his defenses like a single termite against a mighty tree.

Oberoth had attempted to speed it up, but to no avail. No matter, a single termite would eventually reduce a forest to nothing but sawdust given enough time. And it seemed that for now, Time was the only thing Rodney had.

_**Traveler Aurora, Storage Unit**_

They'd left him alone in this dark featureless room for hours now. It was a welcome change from the beatings, but the monotony was getting to John.

He could feel the dried blood on his cheek, thankfully Larrin had only struck him bluntly, and despite having a hell of a headache, John knew no permanent damage had been done.

That was one of the reasons John knew he might still get through this; Larrin hadn't just outright killed him. He'd learned that almost 400 Travelers had died attacking the Asurans, which he also learned was seven percent of their population.

It must have been unimaginably painful to them all, and Larrin herself must feel the blame. John wasn't exactly sure where on the ranking system Larrin stood, but she obviously had great clout within Traveler society.

And it was because of him and his convincing that 400 Travelers had died under her command. John knew how Larrin must be feeling, and he only prayed that she came to her senses about how bad the situation must be getting.

_**Atlantis, Botany Lab**_

Cadman had always been friendly with the people of the expedition. Her temper was something akin to C4, only detonating when the proper stimuli came about. Because of this, it was completely normal for her to walk into the Botany Lab to see her friend inside. "Katie?"

Dr. Brown turned and smiled to Laura, but Laura knew it was a fake smile. "Hi Laura… I-I haven't had much of a chance to see you lately."

Laura knew Katie was still hurting. She and Rodney had slowly been getting closer and closer and his sudden death had affected her greatly. She remained stoic though, but Laura knew she had been considering a transfer back to Earth.

In fact, many of the civilians and even some military personnel had requested to be transferred back to the Milky Way. Ever since Asuras, the level of hope in the base had just been dropping. Laura herself had lost two of her team just today when they decided that this galaxy was too much for them.

But Laura would deal with that later, and right now Katie was her concern… "It's alright; I know it's been hard on you."

Katie nodded, and with a tender touch, she watered the cacti-like plant she'd named for Rodney. "I just, I just wish I knew what happened to him."

Laura blew a sigh of resignation, and decided to say what she had come down here to say. "Katie… Rodney's…"

Before she could complete her sentence, the doors to the small side botany bay closed, and even after slapping the switch to them, they would just not open.

_**Atlantis, Transporter**_

Sam had been in many tight situations over the course of her career. The nearest to this would have to be on Anubis's Ha'Tak where Thor had saved his memory in the computer system. Being trapped with then-Colonel O'Neill in a suddenly and rapidly filling with water room had been one of the last things she would have expected to happen on a spaceship.

At least there she was in radio contact with her team, and the teasing she'd given then-Colonel O'Neill over his _"Shrinkage" _comment had kept her spirits up.

This was completely different, and like it or not, Radek Zelenka was nowhere near O'Neill in social skills. "Check the control panel, I'm going to try and get this thing to go _somewhere._"

Radek quickly did as he was told. Ever since being promoted to chief of science, She'd seen how he tried to live up to the job Rodney McKay did, and for the most part, it was burning him out. Sam couldn't deal with that just yet, so she said nothing as he silently pried the panel off and pulled out the crystal control tray.

Sam tapped a few buttons and kept getting a negative response; she cursed quietly under her breath and finally tapped her radio headset. "This is Colonel Carter to Major Lorne. Come in Major."

* * *

With no reply, Radek quickly began to think of what could be happening. He kept his mouth silent because the woman beside him terrified him. Doing a quick visual check, the crystal system looked like it was in perfect working order; just no power was getting to the door.

"This is Carter to…" Carter checked herself. "…anyone who can hear me…"

Radek winced as well, it was obvious who she was going to call for… and neither of them were on base… or even likely alive anymore.

_**Pegasus Planet (?)**_

_**Dr. Rodney McKay**_

"Rodney… do you love me?"

'_Well that's unfair.' _thought Rodney; Katie _was_ asking him this after a rather strenuous lovemaking session. "What? Of course I do."

Katie smiled and snuggled into him under the cotton sheets. How he'd ended up with Katie off planet in this hotel thingamabob was a mystery, but at the moment he wasn't complaining.

It wasn't much longer after that she got up out of the bed and began to get dressed. "Come on, Rodney. we're already late and Colonel Carter is gonna _kill_ you for bringing me back so late."

Rodney furrowed his brow. Where did that come from? "Uhh… okay. Yeah, I guess you're right."

Rodney tried to brush off the strange feeling, but no matter what he did it just wouldn't go away. It wasn't much longer that they were both dressed and heading to the gate. When had he come here? More importantly, _why_ had he come here?

Was this all just a big date with Katie? Granted yes, they had been getting closer over the past few weeks… and he'd been planning on bringing something back with him on his next trip to Earth… But…

There weren't many other people in the area, in fact most seemed to be avoiding them. A few minutes of walking and Rodney was getting more and more curious. "Umm… Katie, as odd as this many seem, how'd we end up here?"

Katie snickered, and hugged Rodney in a very cutesy fashion. "Silly, you brought me here because I needed to deliver some herbs this village needed to create some natural insecticide for their crops."

The gate came into view about fifty feet away, and Rodney furrowed his brow. "Insecticide? You know how to do that?"

Katie smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Of course! I'm a botanist! You came along because I begged Colonel Carter to give us some alone time."

It was so odd, why did this feel strange? "She… she said yes?"

Katie lost a bit of her smile, and started to grumble. "Yes! _God_, I never knew you were such a light drinker."

_That _was strange. Katie rarely if ever teased or made any pejorative remark to him, Could this… "Rodney, could you dial the gate?" Katie bent over and stretched her back, Rodney amazed she could be so flexible. "You kinda left me a little stiff."

That's when it hit him… this wasn't real. "Wait, no… no! You're, you're not Katie. Katie isn't like this."

Katie stretched her neck and pouted. "Rodney! Why are you acting like this? I thought you loved me…"

Rodney backpedaled, and felt a tinge of pain in his forehead. "No, no this isn't happening. I'm… I'm still…"

The world around Rodney melted, and Oberoth thought to himself as he reset the world yet again. _"His friends give him strength… Somehow he is able to force them to reveal the illusion to him. Perhaps I am being too logical…"_

Oberoth recreated the world around Rodney again, this time back in Atlantis… with a big difference.

_**Atlantis, Mess Hall Balcony**_

Major Lorne had just found Teyla on one of the balconies at the edge of the Mess Hall when the barricade came down. It separated them from the inside but they could still hear the voices of those inside. "This is Lorne! Who's in there?!"

A familiar voice, just ever so slightly accented. _"This is Stackhouse, sir! What's going on?"_

Lorne looked to Teyla who had been standing at the edge of the railing and reminiscing, this situation was by far the last thing he'd expected. "Not a clue, Sarge. Get on the horn and try and get Zelenka to explain what the hell's going on!"

Teyla finally turned and looked to Lorne. "I believe we are trapped, Evan. I can hear those on the level above us in a similar predicament."

Lorne cursed softly and banged his fist against the wall. "Dammit."

_**Atlantis, Transporter**_

"Perhaps we can physically open the door. Transporter doors are much lighter than the city doors."

With a curt nod, Sam moved in and tried to get a good grip on the door. Her thoughts were harsh, and she mentally kicked herself for thinking it. _'If Sheppard were here maybe we could push it open… Or between me and Rodney we could work something out..."_

When the door didn't budge, she let out an exasperated sigh. Zelenka looked pretty dejected himself but for the most part he just remained silent.

Sam noticed and tried to compose herself. She muttered to him in a half calm voice. "Is there anything that could explain why communications and the doors would be down?"

Radek gulped, and shook his head. "Umm, not both at same time; the quarantine lockdown would certainly explain the…"

Sam interrupted. "Quarantine Lockdown?"

Adjusting his glasses, Radek nodded gingerly. "Well yes. it would isolate the individual parts of the city, but it would not interfere with communications."

Sam furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. "Let's hook up your tablet to the system, maybe we can override it from here."

Radek was reluctant to hand over his tablet; it just seemed like such a far stretch. "Oh this? This is just a read-only tablet designed for diagnostics. It doesn't have enough RAM to…"

Sam finally lost her cool. In the past dealing with Radek was simple as the Czech usually deferred to Rodney. It was an easy place to be. But now, forced with making decisions, Sam could see he was reluctant and easily hesitant. "We have to try." She nearly tore the Tablet out of his hands and began to reprogram it. The picture of the pigeon on the background was distracting, but Sam paid little mind to it. "Is there any reason communications would be affected?"

"Yes well, one thing comes to mind. Before, well, after the Kirsan Fever a few months ago. Rodney had reprogrammed the quarantine system to be more aggressive."

At the mention of the former chief of science, Sam flinched slightly. A moment to calm her nerves, and her voice came through clear. "And you think he might have made a mistake?"

Radek quickly held up his hands defensively, hoping to undo the offence. "No! No no no… but there might have been…"

Sam shook her head and sighed. Radek's indecisiveness was infuriating, and she needed his help now like it or not. "Radek… It's alright. Don't worry about offending Rodney just because… "She winced as she worded the rest of the sentence. "… I need you to focus, Radek. He's gone and we need to move on." The moisture in her eyes hid her anger. Sam was beginning to hate being so determined to stay in Atlantis.

Radek sighed and nodded. "Yes, he may have made a mistake. Made the quarantine lockdown too aggressive. But the tablet will only give you readout; we will not be able to change anything."

Sam already knew that, but as she hooked up the tablet to the panel she explained. "At least we'll know what's going on."

Radek found it hard to dispute that.

_**Atlantis, Botany Lab**_

Laura looked around the botany lab, and after finding nothing useful, turned to Katie and said. "You mean you've got no computer, no radio, and not even any edible plants in this place?"

Katie shrugged and picked a leaf from one of the greener plants. "You could probably eat this if you had to, but I wouldn't recommend it."

Cadman rolled her eyes and tapped on the door. "Hello? Anyone out there?"

Again, Katie shook her head. "Most of them are probably on lunch, I usually work through lunch or…" Her eyes watered, and she turned away as she finished her sentence. "…or Rodney would come and…"

Laura winced and sighed. Truth be told she missed the quirky scientist as well if only to tease him. "Katie, I need to tell you. Ronon's back."

Katie instantly perked up, but her face was more confusion than anything. "What?! But, How!?"

Laura prepared herself, this wasn't an easy story to tell. "Sit down, Katie… I'm guessing we're gonna be in here for a long time."

_**Atlantis, Control Room**_

In the control room, Chuck was rubbing his eyes as he tried to hack past the quarantine lockdown. It had been almost 20 hours he'd been awake and Amelia had been threatening to kick his ass when the doors had shut.

Through some strange machination, Chuck was now the ranking officer inside the control room of the Lost City of the Ancients. "Okay… anybody get anything on the radios?"

A series of shakes of their heads, and Chuck sighed. "_Daedalus_?"

Amelia shook her head and rubbed her forehead. "Nothing. It's in orbit, but we've lost all ability to contact them."

Chuck rubbed his eyes, and cursed softly. "Dammit, so do we have contact with anyone?"

Amelia sighed and shook her head again. "No one; we're completely on our own." The other technicians were now focused on trying to get the bulkhead doors open, and Amelia spoke softly just to him. "Chuck… calm down. It's just a quarantine."

Chuck sat next to Amelia and stretched his face. "Yeah… and we're completely cut off from everyone…" He looked over to where the others had begun to build something that looked like a giant crowbar. It was almost comical. "Let's try and get in contact with _Daedalus_ before we start eating each other."

Amelia just grimaced.

_**Atlantis, Transporter**_

"Level 5?!"

Sam was confused as well. The data on the tablet was astonishing. "The entire city is in lockdown… this outbreak couldn't have spread out that fast!"

Radek flexed his fist in concentration, it hurt to admit it, but this was looking more and more like a malfunction on Rodney's part than anything else. "Something is definitely wrong. Look, most of the primary and secondary systems of the city are offline as well."

Sam nodded and ground her teeth. "What exactly did Rodney do to the system?"

With a small shrug, Radek tried to keep it as succinct as possible. "He made it more aggressive to diseases that to Pegasus isn't as serious. Our immune systems…"

Sam shook her hand quickly and tapped through more of the information on the tablet. "Take a look at this… I'm not as familiar with the power systems of the city as you are but this doesn't look right."

Radek took the tablet and sighed as he went over the data. "Oh dear… it looks like it is a malfunction, but it doesn't look like it's anything Rodney did. I'm reading a sudden spike in power caused by an intense ionospheric storm earlier today."

Her hand on her forehead, Sam smacked her lips. "We need to get to a workstation, I'm not sure if anyone else can make a workaround."

Radek gulped, and he looked at the door. "It will be difficult to get through the door… let alone the rest of the lockdown."

Resisting the urge to rebuke him, Sam tapped open the control pad where the crystal control tray resided. "Pass me that?" She motioned to the tablet he had in his hands.

Radek shrugged and did as he was ordered, but he felt he needed to speak. "The tablet only has limited RAM; it won't be able to…"

Unable to resist, Sam chided him with a less than calm voice. "Yes yes… it won't run the whole city but it might be enough to open this door! And we're the only ones who have the skills to deal with this crisis and the rest of the city must be getting close to panic… I need you to think positive and focus."

Gulping, Radek nodded and kept his voice quiet. "Yes… You're right."

It was hard for Sam to try and keep positive herself. As if things weren't bad enough with the recent losses and the IOA's stonewalling, but Atlantis herself seemed to be unruly; Perhaps in parallel to all the events of the galaxy.

_**Traveler Aurora, Storage Unit**_

Special Forces training was one of the only things keeping John sane. Focusing on what was coming… not on the dried blood on the inside corner of his left eye that itched like mad, or even that Larrin was seated in front of him with a harsh look. "Are you even going to talk to me anymore?"

Larrin remained silent, simply staring at him.

John winced and tried to flex his facial muscles enough to get rid of the caked blood on his face. It itched terribly and with his hands tied he couldn't do anything. "Dammit Larrin, this is ridiculous. Come on! We can work together!"

Not a word escaped her mouth, only silent staring.

It was utterly frustrating, so John decided that he was going to keep talking and hope that something got through to her. "You know the Asurans aren't going to stop, I'm betting they've already restarted their campaign and the Wraith aren't going to take it sitting down…"

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and John knew she was listening.

"I'm can't promise my people will do everything they can… but you can bet the farm _I'm_ gonna do everything I can… and I know Atlantis would be willing to take your people in."

Very little emotion on her face, almost as if she were simply considering what to do. Her mouth parted just a little, but no sound escaped.

John raised his voice slightly, now getting a little angry. "_For the love of God_, I don't _care_ that you've spent the last week using me for a punching bag. Think of all the people who've died… the people who are gonna die if we don't do whatever we can."

Now her face showed a little emotion, anger, indignance, and just the hint of scorn.

With a calmer voice, John tried to be reasonable. "Listen, if we head back to Atlantis, we can regroup with your people. At the very least I'm sure I can convince my people to offer yours sanctuary on Atlantis."

Finally, Larrin sighed and looked to him with a scornful angry look. "That's it? Sanctuary? What about the fact that once they're done with the rest of the galaxy, they're gonna come after your city, they're gonna hunt my people down just to make sure there's nothing for the Wraith. What can you really offer us?"

John grimaced, and he knew that it would be difficult. "I can't promise anything, but you have my word I'll do everything and anything I can."

No more words, but Larrin drew a deep breath and left the room. John couldn't help but think that maybe he'd finally gotten through to her. His only regret was that it wasn't sooner to avoid the flogging her second in command had given him.

_**Atlantis, Mess Hall Balcony**_

Lorne peered out over the balcony and saw the tower looming overhead. The sun was bearing down on them and he noticed Teyla move over to where a small awning provided some shade. Seeing that he wasn't able to do anything but bake in the sun, Lorne moved over and sat down next to her. "I wouldn't worry too much… probably just a glitch or something."

Teyla nodded, but her tone wasn't her typical cheery one. "I am not worried. I am… concerned."

Lorne sighed and tried to think of something to say. "Well… it's just…"

With a shake of her head, and a hand on Lorne's shoulder. Teyla sighed her reply. "It's okay Evan… I know."

There wasn't a thing Lorne could say to help Teyla's burdened soul. Not that he could think of any for himself.

_**Atlantis, Transporter**_

"Oh, good idea."

Sam had seen Radek fanning himself and take his outer jacket off. Without any hesitation, she began to peel off her own jacket as it was getting hot without ventilation. Radek on the other hand instantly noted that Soldier Sam was in actuality a rather attractive woman. His fanning suddenly had more to do with keeping his calm than keeping his cool.

Sam shook her head and ignored it as she dropped the jacket and outer shirt leaving only her t-shirt on. "Much better."

Radek couldn't help himself and muttered as he focused on staring at the crystal panel. "Yes, Much better…!"

"Okay, the panel isn't recognizing my authentication…"

Feeling just the edge of smugness, Radek replied to the unasked question. "Well yes… the tablet is not configured…"

Sam checked her harsher rebuke. "Yeah I know… That's why I've written a workaround so I can bypass all the programs on the tablet and free up enough RAM to allow local access input."

Feeling a little emasculated, Radek replied quickly. "Already? So fast…"

It was getting harder and harder for Sam to keep her cool. Dr Zelenka had been getting more and more submissive, more and more useless ever since Asuras. Sam knew he was smarter than that and also why this was happening. He missed Rodney, and the grief hadn't passed yet. Sam realized with a small sense of self-loathing that the civilians on base were nowhere near as accustomed to death as Soldiers were…

God, was she accustomed to it? It sounded so macabre… Sam was a soldier yes… but she was primarily a scientist. Sam should know better than to… "Perhaps if we bypass the secondary control crystals…"

Sam saw it and through all her deep thoughts, hesitated. Only too late did she reach out to grab Radek's hand. "_No! Wait!"_

Too late, the raw uncontrolled power flowed into the primary control crystals and caused a short circuit between the crystals. It blew with a significant force and sent both Atlanteans back into the opposite wall. Sam landed first and felt her head crack against the wall. Radek landed in a heap but was more or less unharmed.

The world became hazy, and Sam instantly knew she was hurt. Her hand moved lazily up to where her head ached even as she spoke. "Doc, you okay?"

Radek grimaced and held his hand; a black mark showed where the electricity had coursed through and scorched his hand. But for the most part he looked okay. "The, the doors. They didn't open."

Sam already knew that. What Radek should have done is what he always did around Rodney, shut up and follow orders. Now pulling her hand away from her head where the distinct trickle of blood now flowed, she looked at the tablet on her leg. "No…" she picked it up with her blood stained fingers and grimaced. "And now the _goddamned_ tablet's fried."

Radek had never seen Sam angry, so now that he was the cause of her throwing the tablet across the transporter and sighing dejectedly with her hands holding her head up. Radek felt even more miserable than he had before.

_**Atlantis, Infirmary**_

"Ronon! Stop!"

Paying no attention to the doctor's words, Ronon growled loudly as he tried to pry the infirmary doors open with the IV pole. When it snapped suddenly and he stumbled about from the sudden move, Ronon slammed his fist against the door in futility. "Open you goddamn door!"

Jennifer tried to stay out of range of the infuriated Satedan and explained. "It's a quarantine lockdown, Ronon. It won't open." He still ignored her, and tried with his fingers to pry the door apart. "Those doors weigh god knows how many tons. Even if we had a squad of marines in here we wouldn't be able to push it open!"

Finally done venting, Ronon punched the door hard one last time and split open his knuckles. He didn't even care as his blood trickled down to the floor. "You got any explosives? Guns?"

Jennifer looked around the sparsely stocked side room to the infirmary. More than likely her colleagues on the other side of the door were trying the same, but with even less success. "This is an infirmary, The most explosive thing I have is a bad case of indigestion."

Neither laughed, but Ronon got the hint. "So we're trapped?"

With a nod and a sigh, Jennifer nodded. "Yeah… that's what a quarantine does. So come here and let me stitch that hand up and we can figure out what it is we're gonna do."

Ronon just growled – Jennifer wasn't sure _what _was going on in his fractured mind.

_Atlantis, Botany Lab_

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Laura resisted rolling her eyes. She'd been doing this for years and went to university for it! Of course Laura knew what she was doing. "Trust me, we're in no danger."

Katie still winced as she saw Laura insert the detonator to the small shaped brick of C4 on the door. "It's not everyday I see someone opening a door with explosives."

Laura shrugged and flicked the safety off. She pulled Laura with her behind the cover of the overturned desk and made a motion to cover her ears. "Not everyday this place decides to lock us all down."

Just as she reached for the radio detonator, Katie stopped her. "Wait! What if it's a real Quarantine?! What if there's some horrible disease out there and we're just going to expose ourselves to it?"

Having considered this, Laura felt it was worth the small risk. "Well, my radio's out, why would communications go down if we're trying to stop an infection? That'd be the last thing to disable. No, something's wrong and we need to try and get into contact with the chain of command."

Katie simply blinked, she seemed unsure of half of what Laura had just said. "Umm, okay. If you say so."

Laura felt a pang of regret, ever since telling Katie that Ronon was sure Rodney had died on Asuras… Well she felt just a little less of a friend and more a soldier. "Katie, look I'm sorry. I know everything's piling up on us and, well if you need anyone to talk to, don't hesitate."

Katie sighed and nodded. "I-I know. Everyone keeps telling me that."

It was obvious Katie was uncomfortable. So Laura decided to end the conversation with a bang. "Cover your ears. This is gonna be loud."

_**Atlantis, Mess Hall Balcony**_

Lorne peered out and wondered exactly what the others were doing. He had a block of C4 in his vest but it would barely be enough to break through the door. "Don't suppose you carry C4 'round with you?"

Teyla rolled her eyes and replied deadpan. "You'll have to forgive me; I left my stockpile in my quarters."

It was heartening to hear the Athosian woman joke around, but the lack of more than a courteous smile made Lorne feel like he was intruding. "Yeah… well… I'm not sure I wanna try and blow this door open with so little space out here…" He looked over the edge of the balcony above and below. "Wish I had some rope, might be able to climb up or down."

An indecisive groan from Teyla told him what a ridiculous idea it was. Pft… climbing the Tower… surely it was… Well…

_**Atlantis, Control Room**_

"I can't raise _Daedalus_… but it looks like they're trying to get our attention as well."

Chuck furrowed his brow and scratched the side of his head. "How?"

With a motion of her head, Amelia showed where the beeping on the screen was. "There's a signal… It looks like as Asgard transporting signal but it can't get through. That's not all though."

Sitting down, and trying not to grimace at the way the giant improvised crowbar failed to open the door, Chuck saw what was the problem. "Oh crap… level five quarantine? That means…"

With a nod of her head, and a dejected tone Amelia confirmed. "Yeah… Atlantis is broadcasting a signal… and without Dr Zelenka, Major Lorne, or Colonel Carter here…"

Chuck palmed his forehead and sighed. "There's no way to turn it off…"

The two technicians came to the conclusion that unless something drastic happened, Atlantis was basically launching signal flares to any passing Wraith or Replicator ships.

_**USS Daedalus, Bridge**_

"Still no luck?"

Caldwell's questioning was standard military protocol, but Major Marks couldn't help but want to say something along the lines of _'I'd tell you if I did.'_ "No, sir. Atlantis is putting out a jamming signal that's stopping all matter energy conversion. I'm guessing it's a quarantine but since it all happened so fast…"

With a sigh, Caldwell palmed his face. "It's most likely a malfunction… _damnit_. Any luck shutting down that distress call?"

Major Marks shook his head and realized what the next part entailed. "No, sir, it's coming out loud and clear 5 by 5."

With a wince and stifled groan, Caldwell put his palms together. "… Target Atlantis's Communications hub. Railguns only."

Hesitation. Never in his career had Kevin Marks ever been ordered to fire on his own allies. "…Sir?"

With an iron voice, Caldwell growled. "It's either this or one of the two enemies looking for us right now. Do it."

Marks let a slow breath out and closed his eyes. Targeting Atlantis for an orbital strike was the last thing he'd ever imagined would be his job. He made careful note to aim properly, adjust for wind and the changing gravimetric forces… a miss could mean a lot of lives.

_**Atlantis, Outside Botany Lab**_

Katie was a few feet behind Laura as they moved through the open corridors of Atlantis when the felt the tower they were in shake. Katie instantly freaked out and jumped in surprise. _"Oh my god! _I thought you said you knew what you were doing!"

With a bemused yet worried expression, Laura looked around as the corridor stopped shaking. "That wasn't me…" a moment to think, and then she became much more serious. "Sounded like an artillery shell… or…"

Katie began to dart her head around looking for where the noise and shaking was coming from. "Well, then what was that? Are we under attack?"

With raised hands, Laura took a hold of Katie and tried to calm her down. "Whoa! No need to jump to conclusions! If we were under attack it would have been over already since the shield isn't up."

The newly promoted Captain pulled out another brick of C4 and began to shape the charge with her hands. "We're not too far from the auxiliary control room. Once we get there we might be able to figure out exactly what's going on."

Katie stopped and held her hands up and shook her head. "Okay… You can do that, I'm not a soldier. I'm a botanist for pete's sake! What am I even doing following you?"

It was expected, and Laura didn't blame the woman. Too much was happening too fast and she was finding herself falling back on her training. "Katie, calm down. It's okay, just go back to the cultivation room."

Surprisingly, the botanist became indignant. "Oh so I'm just a third wheel to you?"

Laura winced; the massacre of the idiom Katie used was quite contrary to the severity of the situation they were in.

_**Atlantis, Transporter**_

"I'm sorry, I honestly thought that."

Sam was in no mood to talk, her head ached from the blunt injury and her vision was slightly blurry. It was hard to concentrate as well and she assumed a minor concussion was to blame. Her tone was a little less than irate. "I know. I'm not angry."

Radek was sitting on the other side of the transporter, clearly terrified of the injured woman across from him. "It's just, I was so sure…"

It wasn't like Sam to be rude, or even curt, but the way Radek had been apologizing for the last 3 minutes continuously had made Sam wish she had one of his pigeons to choke him with. "_Radek!_"

The Czech was silent finally… but only for a moment. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not Rodney."

Now Sam winced, it was an unfair assumption, but to a degree the scientist was right. Sam wished Rodney was still around and felt just a little more than annoyed that Zelenka was her new chief of science. "I'm not asking you to be, just…" with a sigh, Sam rubbed the back of her head and grimaced.

"Exactly… I'll never be what Rodney was to Atlantis, and I'm sorry about that."

Radek's words hurt Sam. It hurt her because it was true no matter what she said. "You don't have to be, Radek…" Sam said all this with her eyes closed. The throbbing at the back of her head made it harder to focus, but she had to say this. "I'll admit, I miss Rodney and Sheppard, and everyone who's gone. But we need to move forward, Radek. And if that means that we all need to work a little harder than that's what we're going to have to-"

The sound of a distant explosion distracted Sam's attention. Radek had heard it too and he quickly got up. "That sounded like an explosion, perhaps the city is malfunctioning worse than we expected."

Sam knew better. The sound of twisting metal was loud yes, but not loud enough to signal an exploded power conduit. "No, it's a C4 blast. Someone's out there!" she forced herself up, waving off any attempt by Radek to help her. "Hey! HEY!" Sam began to bang on the door, desperate to get anyone's attention.

_**Atlantis, Infirmary**_

"I should be with him."

Jennifer had to admit, the last hour had been interesting to say the least once Ronon stopped trying to break down the door. She kept her voice quick as she sat across from him on the floor. "You'd be dead."

"_I'd be with him."_ Ronon made no attempt to hide the anger in his voice. "… It wouldn't have been so…"

Jennifer sighed, Ronon was trying to hold all that in and for some reason, she was being some kind of disturbance to his calm. "I, I dunno what I can say."

Ronon kept silent and simply clenched his fists. The stitches in his hand were stressed but they didn't snap fortunately. "There's nothing you or anyone else can say… I left him behind."

Under normal circumstances Jennifer would try and get Ronon to go see a psychiatrist, but seeing as the Satedan was unwilling to part with the guilt, or even the PDA that he still held in his right side shirt pocket… "Ronon… look. I'm not even going to try and say I understand. I've been here a little less than a year and already I'm scared out of my mind, but I don't think Doctor McKay would like you sulking like this. Especially not after spending so many years fighting the Wraith."

It was ballsy, and Jennifer only said it because she thought maybe being a little more aggressive could convince the Satedan to do more than just sit around and wait for death. Ronon looked up at her with a strange expression on his face. "What did you say?"

Jennifer suddenly felt like she'd crossed a line, and quickly she tried to backpedal out of the awkward conversation. "Oh! Well, uhh who am I to say what Doctor McKay would want? I only ever saw him when he was here trying to…"

With a strong shake of his head, Ronon sat up straight. "No no no, what you said about me, about the Wraith."

A little apprehensive, Jennifer decided to be completely honest. "Fighting them? Well, I mean… that's what you did - isn't it?"

Ronon's face was blank, but his mind was racing. That is what he did isn't it? He _fought_ the Wraith. Ronon hated to admit it, but this fumbling somewhat cute doctor had just slapped him in the face with the realization that he was dishonoring Rodney by giving in so easily. There were more Wraith out there and the Replicators too.

Ronon wouldn't rest until they were all torn to shreds by his hands. Vengeance for Rodney, and Sheppard, and the hundreds… no… _millions_ of others who had fallen before them. He looked to Jennifer and smiled softly, something that only made Jennifer even more nervous.

_**Atlantis, Mess Hall Balcony**_

Major Lorne wasn't exactly an impulsive man. In fact, it was his stoic calm that many referred to when speaking of him. The biggest thing that made him lose control was when his friends and family were threatened.

So when that explosion from the nearby tower had drawn both his and Teyla's attention, it made him _very_ impulsive. "I'm gonna have to climb up the side of the tower… the Control Room isn't that far."

Teyla instantly raised both eyebrows. Certainly she felt threatened by the blast as well, but the concept of climbing the side of the city of the Ancestors wasn't high on her list of things she might one day do. "Climb the tower? Are you insane?"

Lorne leaned out from the railing and tried to map out his route, it would be a mostly laterally climb, but the final 20 stories would be pure vertical. Definitely very dangerous. "If Carter's not up there, then no one else has authorization to shut the Quarantine off. If she _can't_ get there, then I _have_ to do this."

It was the truth, but it didn't stop Teyla from saying. "You can't make it, Evan…"

Many times in his life he'd been told some variation of that. And even though it was Teyla, it still bothered him. "Oh and why not?"

With a half stifled groan, Teyla tugged on his leg. "You know why…"

Lorne contemplated her words. Did she mean more with them than she could actually say? Maybe he was reading too much into it, but the sudden urge that hit him told him just what a fool he was being.

Maybe it was the severity of his own feelings, or maybe it was just him wanting to prove that he was alright and he knew his duty. But Evan Lorne finally realized that he was being stupid, and jumped down from the railing where he was. "I guess you're right. Climbing the tower, guess I nearly won the _Darwin _award…"

_**Atlantis, Control Room**_

"So you're sure it was _Daedalus_?"

Amelia nodded and pointed out the sensor report. "I guess they detected our signal and since they couldn't reach us or even beam down, they stopped it by any means necessary."

Chuck looked it over and winced. The damage was extensive, but contained. There shouldn't have been anyone up there but it was always possible that casualties could have come from the surprise if somewhat welcome attack. "I've been trying to break the quarantine code… it's slow going, I've managed to disable the lock on the ventilation system so we won't suffocate. But pretty much everything else is going to take forever to hack into."

Amelia smirked as she restrained her laugh. "Hack? Geek."

Chuck rolled his eyes; despite the bad situation it was nice to have a little laugh. "You're just jealous. The Chucknician has long ago learned to deal with such things…"

With a furrowing of her brow, Amelia rolled her eyes back at him despite obviously finding humor in his words. "Freak."

_**Atlantis, Transporter**_

_"Colonel!? Is that you?"_

Sam latched onto the muffled voice and screamed as loud as she could. "Yes! We're trapped in the transporter!"

Zelenka banged on the door as well. "Yes! With your help we might be able to pull it open!"

The muffled sounds of combat boots outside, and soon the voice was relatively clear. _"Colonel? Doctor? You in there?"_

"Yes! Maybe between the three of us we can pry the doors apart!"

Outside the door, Laura shrugged and for a moment wished Katie had come with her all the way. "Alright! Get ready! On 3!"

She got a good purchase on the door and dug into the floor with her boots. The strong grip gave her a great leverage and she counted down. "One… Two… Three!"

Between the three of them, it was only a few moments before the door opened enough to get an even better gripping point, and both Sam and Radek rushed out taking deep breaths of the somewhat fresher air.

Laura noted instantly that Sam was a little woozy, and Radek held his hand as if injured. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, yeah we're fine." Sam nodded but the obvious sluggishness of her movements noted otherwise. "How'd you get to us? The whole base should be locked down."

Laura winced slightly and opened the Velcro patch on her vest. Beneath lay a twelve pack of C4 charges with three empty holes. "Gotta give the technicians something to do."

With a grimace and slight groan, Radek realized that door repair in Atlantis wasn't something that was high on the list of things to do. "We need to get to a workstation, once we're there, we can override the lockdown."

With a shaky nod, Sam added. "Agreed, the closest workstation is the ZPM power room, should be a few levels down."

Laura again noticed Sam looking dizzy and made a comment. "You sure you okay, boss? You don't look so hot."

Sam shook her head and held the back of it. "Just a bruise… nothing serious." Radek became quieter than he already was and simply looked away.

_**Atlantis, Infirmary**_

"Ronon… it's okay. We're all grieving… it's okay to feel bad."

Ronon shook his head, but he didn't move the arm that had come around his shoulders. "They should be here… _goddamnit they should be here!_ They're the ones who've been here from the start, they're the ones who kept me here, they're the ones who..." He wanted to say the ones that matter, the ones that would keep this galaxy safe from the Wraith, but the emotion inside him forced his mouth shut.

Jennifer simply stayed with one arm around Ronon consoling him. It was by far the strangest moment he'd had with the expedition so far. "I… I'll admit I didn't really know them that well, heck, I don't really know anyone anymore. But I guess all we can really do is keep doing our jobs and hope for the best."

Ronon had calmed down, Jennifer liked calm Ronon. He said. "…I had you wrong, you know?"

A slight stiffening of her body was the only sign of Jennifer's sudden hesitance. "Hmm?"

"You're tougher than I thought you were, a lot tougher."

With a sudden blustering voice, Jennifer became quite bashful. "Oh well… I don't, I mean. Tough is subjective, Give me a cerebral edema and I'm superwoman, put me in a cocktail party and I'm a lost little chipmunk."

With a confused look, Ronon shook his head. "What?"

Jennifer realized that Ronon probably didn't have a clue was either situation was, so instead she just pouted slightly and sighed. "Oh it's… oh never mind."

_**Atlantis, Mess Hall Balcony**_

"It's not going to get easier is it?"

Teyla looked at Major Lorne as he sat across from her on the balcony, the claylike C4 substance in his hands. "Loss is a constant in a person's life."

Lorne looked up to her and sighed. "How do you deal?"

With a deep breath, Teyla tried to think of a way to help the Major with his own pain, but having yet to find one of her own, she came to a loss. "I simply must live one day at a time, treating each situation as it comes to me."

With a rueful smile, Lorne rubbed the side of his face. "I, Teyla… I'm-I'm not used to this. I've got pretty much all my family still back home. Carson and Elizabeth… Well, I was never really close to either of them. God, I must be horrible for saying that."

"You are simply stating the truth Evan. There is no shame in that." Despite saying those words, Teyla knew it was a simple placation. She herself felt a great deal of loss as Elizabeth and Carson had been such good friends. Kate was gone as well, the loss of Sheppard Rodney and Ronon had been a near final killing stroke. It felt wrong to miss them more than she missed either of her other three great friends. "I myself admit I am at a loss."

Lorne gulped and looked at her with a somewhat sad expression. "Have you thought about what you're going to do now? I mean…" the man didn't want to finish that sentence, but he knew it must have been on Teyla's mind.

Teyla for that matter still didn't have an answer. "I… I do not know Evan. My people are still missing. I have no idea where they are. My team is for the most part either dead or missing."

Lorne smacked his forehead, "Oh _goddamn it!_ I'm _such_ an idiot. Teyla, Ronon's alive.

The Athosian woman's eyes went wide. "What!? But… How!?"

With a regretful sigh, Lorne began the story. "It's complicated… but when they were on Asuras, Ronon was the last uninjured person and Dr. McKay had given him his tablet to detonate a ZPM… before he could do it though, a Wraith dart beamed both him and the ZPM aboard. He doesn't know for a fact, but the last time he saw Rodney the replicators had shot one of his legs and he was surrounded."

It was the smallest bit of hope Teyla had heard in weeks, and she instantly latched onto it. "Then he may still be alive!"

. "Well, Ronon's pretty sure he isn't… but I'm still hoping too."

The two of them looked to each other and knew that slowly but surely, the healing they wanted had begun.

_**Atlantis, En Route to ZPM room**_

The explosion caused a grimace on all three, though each for different reasons. Laura cursed herself for shaping the charge too wide and blowing the door clean off its sliding track instead of just a hole. Radek wasn't looking forward to another door to repair, and Sam hid the pain the shockwave travelling through the hallway caused in her head.

The three of them said nothing though, and slowly but surely they reached the ZPM control room where a workstation lay ready for their use. Sam quickly took control of the situation, and despite being injured and relatively fogyish in her thinking, managed to get into the quarantine program. "Alright, it looks like the ionospheric disturbance just corrupted the control interface… it'll take quite a while to clean that up without a hard restart."

Laura simply looked at Sam and raised her hands. "Uh, High Temperature and Energy Materials Specialist. I may love nerds but I'm not one of them."

Radek seemed to perk up at the mention of loving nerds, and looked to Sam. "Well, the only way to make a hard restart from our position is to shut down the main power circuits of the city."

It was something Sam had considered, but what that would mean is days of recoding all the programs that were running at the time of the quarantine and starting from scratch. It was a big job and it worried her. "Is there any other way you can think of to reset the quarantine without that?"

With a scratch of his stubble, Radek mused. "I… I'm not sure. What do you think?"

It irritated Sam that Radek was still trying to follow her lead. He was still probably feeling bad about the incident in the transporter but now was not the time for apologetic natures. "Come on… there must be some way." Sam knew there was _one_ other way. Get to the control room and disengage the protocols from there. But the control room was dozens of levels above, and even with Laura's _'Velcro Vest of Doom'_ as she so deviously put it, they'd never make it all the way.

Radek was still trying to remain in the shadows. "Uhh, well. No. There may be other ways yes, but none from where we are."

It would have to do, and Sam decided to act. "Alright, pull the switch. The systems should be out for a few seconds but everything should come back soon after." She took her position by the control panel and waited for Radek to move over to the ancient equivalent of a circuit breaker. "Okay, ready."

Radek looked between him and Laura, and realized Sam wanted him to pull the switch. "Oh, Oh! Ah yes. I'll just…" Both women resisted rolling their eyes, as soon the Czech moved over and put his hands on the main switch. "Alright… ready."

Sam took a few deep breaths, and for the first time in awhile welcomed her soon coming trip to the infirmary.

_**Atlantis, Infirmary**_

"You're pretty smart, you know that Doc?"

Jennifer snickered softly, but didn't deny the accusation. "Story of my life… ever since I was fifteen and graduating university that's all everyone ever says."

Ronon felt bad, he'd almost given in to despair but somehow thinking of the almost innocence of the woman next to him with her head on his shoulder. He had to make his statement clear. "No no, you're that kind of smart too, but I mean you're smart enough to stay calm. You don't let stuff get to you."

Even more embarrassed, Jennifer scrunched into a ball shape instinctively. "Oh my, well. I-I guess…"

As much as Ronon wanted to feel pain, seeing Jennifer's reaction to his compliment only made him want to smile.

_**Atlantis, Control Room**_

Amelia had admit, despite some initial butterflies, Chuck was actually handling himself well. That is, as well as a Sergeant could after the city had come under attack, sensors reporting various explosions around the city, the city reacting to the attack by implementing the self-destruct, as well as having one technician break his hand trying to pound his way through a three ton door. "How much time left on the, well… _you know?"_

With a resigned sigh, Amelia shook her head. "Didn't catch it. Could be five seconds from now, could be five years from now." It seemed strange to her, to be so calm despite certain death so close. "Guess _Daedalus_ is gonna regret taking out that communications dish."

Chuck rubbed his face and leaned back in his chair. His smile was somewhat insane. "Ever thought about what you'd do if your flight went down?"

"Excuse me?"

With a hand above his head, Chuck mimed a plane. "You know, 747, get shot down, engine trouble, frozen duck flies into the windshield. Any of the millions of things that could go wrong… what do you do?"

It was a strange question, and Amelia really didn't know how to respond. "Uh, well I guess I'd, well, but… dammit Chuck! What kind of a question is that?"

"I don't know! I just, I don't know what I'd do either. Is that… _is that a joke?_"

Now Amelia was worried, had Chuck gone off the deep end? "The hell are you talking about?"

Leaning forward, Chuck tried to lay out the epiphany he'd just had. "It's an existential question. If you know you're gonna die, what do you do?"

Now Amelia understood - vaguely. "Well, there's still a chance someone could shut it off. Those doors were pretty close to the ZPM room and…"

Shaking both his head and hands, Chuck interrupted. "No no no, you're not getting me. Look at this place. Look at everything that's happened, Maybe it won't be today… and maybe it will. But one of these days, maybe not even for like a hundred years, but one of these days we're gonna die, and we just don't know what we're gonna do before then."

All Amelia could do was blink in response. Had Chuck lost his marbles? "You're scaring me. Shut up before I kick you… _really hard._"

Chuck's laughs did nothing to calm Amelia down. "No no, you don't get it… God, look at everything that's happened. We could die any minute and we just don't know what to do now. We're so sure that we're gonna keep on going that… that we forget why we're even here."

_Amelia_ certainly was questioning why she was here. Listening to Chuck's ramblings was going to give her an aneurism. "You need a vacation… a _long_ vacation."

"Well that's just it isn't it? Where would I go?"

With a shrug, Amelia noted that one of the workstations in the ZPM room now was giving an active status. "Well… if we get out of this, back home. Earth."

Chuck's smile lost the insanity, but it kept its vigor. "Wrong, _this…" _The Canadian moved his arms around emphasizing Atlantis. "… This is home."

To punctuate his statement, the lights as well as everything else suddenly turned off, but just as rapidly, they went back up… along with the bulkheads.

_**Atlantis, Infirmary**_

"Do you, well I mean… are you…"

Ronon couldn't help but smile at Jennifer's blusteryness. Granted he wasn't expecting her to be napping on his shoulder either after only 2 hours of isolation, but maybe Jennifer's attempt to console him meant more than he thought. "Yeah?"

"Well, if you… _need_ someone to talk to…"

It was a pretty forward question. Ronon barely knew Jennifer before today, and already she was trying to help him. It was a hard thing to deny… especially since he had yet to talk to Teyla and see what kind of shape she was in… probably not a good one. "Maybe… maybe."

Before either could do anything more, the lights went out. And moments later, they went up along with the doors.

_**Atlantis, Mess Hall Balcony**_

"So Rodney is likely still alive, and the Asurans have almost definitely probed his mind."

Lorne nodded, and handed his canteen to Teyla. "That's the gist of the Intel Ronon brought back. We might have to move the city again."

Teyla looked to Lorne with a rueful expression. "I guess you'll be the one to fly the city."

With a nod, Lorne contemplated it. "Always wanted to see what it's like… Co…" his voice caught, and he looked down for a moment "… _Sheppard_ said it was 'cool'." Now he laughed, and smile was one of nostalgia. "Could never get him to describe it beyond that…"

It was obvious the Major missed the dark haired Colonel. Teyla didn't know what kind of a relationship they had apart from friends, but it was apparent that Evan cherished it. "Many times has John used the same term when speaking with me."

"… I really hope he's still okay… last time the Traveler's took him he wasn't exactly in the best shape… he said that Larrin lady had a great right hook."

Teyla smiled and laughed at the small joke. The mere fact that it was the Travelers that had taken John and not a sworn enemy gave her just a small degree of hope for his safe return.

Even more hope was added when a few seconds later, the doors to the Mess Hall opened and a collective sigh of relief was heard.

_**Atlantis, Infirmary**_

"Guess you would have had to come down here anyway."

Sam snorted softly at Ronon's little joke, with everything in Atlantis relatively back to normal, it was time to recoup from the culmination of the unrequested chaos. "Yeah well… Dr. Keller knows what she's doing. A few minutes under her care won't kill me."

Jennifer made an irritated sound and pressed the bandage on Sam's head just a little harder. Sam winced a little and turned with an accusing face. Jennifer simply smiled and remained innocent. "Whaaat? I have to make sure it holds."

Sam checked her eye roll; she was feeling too good for that sort of thing. Yet again she'd dodged death by the skin of her teeth, and no matter what the situation could have been, the relief of life continued was enough to keep her going. "So Ronon, Major Lorne briefed me quickly on what happened but he didn't give me any details."

Ronon nodded, and then accepted the glass of water Jennifer handed him. "Wraith were stealing ZPMs, I blew em up. McKay…" Ronon stopped for a moment and sighed, the time to move forward was now. "…McKay got captured. They probably probed his mind and got rid of him, just like-"

With another sigh, Sam looked down at the ground. "Just like Dr. Weir…" A moment of silence, remembering the two friends who had fallen to the nanite monsters. "We're gonna have to move the city. If they probed Rodney, then they know where Atlantis is. It's been almost a week and they haven't attacked, but maybe it's because they're more concerned with the Wraith for now."

Ronon nodded, and he clenched his fist. "The Wraith are getting their asses kicked. They tried to use those ZPMs to power a cloning factory. The Wraith that captured me got caught by another hive and…" he growled softly. "…we had to work together to get outta there. I blew the ZPMs and he got us both away with a Dart. Don't know how I ended up on Sateda."

They were both silent now, and Sam held the bandage at the back of her head and relished the feeling of narcotic painkillers. It was only for a moment though, as she quickly excused herself from Ronon and called for a command staff meeting.

She smiled and nodded to Teyla who now walked in, now obviously pregnant. Teyla looked across the room to where Ronon was, and the Satedan noticed her looking.

Ronon silently got up, and walked over to Teyla. "Miss me?"

Teyla smiled, and simply hugged Ronon.

Outside in the hallway, Sam contemplated her next move. The hard restart that the city had to endure to save them all would complicate and delay any possible launch of the city, but with any luck it would only be a few days before they left this planet.

_**Traveler Aurora, Storage Unit**_

"Bring him."

It had been almost a whole day since John had seen another living person, and his parched throat and empty stomach attested to that. The two burly looking Travelers who accompanied Larrin picked him up by his shoulder. John felt severely weak from almost 3 weeks of sedentary life tied to a chair.

Never in his life had he been as glad for bathroom breaks as he usually got some dips into his schedule to keep his upper body in relatively okay shape.

This wasn't a bathroom break though, and they been keeping him awake for almost 2 days now. Larrin looked a little… softer was the word John wanted to use, but being dragged through the Aurora with his feet sliding on the floor, and the harsh lighting above him made him reconsider ever thinking of Larrin as anything other than hard. "Anyone gonna tell me where we're going?"

None of them replied, and instead John figured that finally they were going to decide what to do with him. He only wished it could have come 2 weeks earlier before Larrin decided to use him for a punching bag.

It was a long trip, and finally John was deposited inside a room where a spotlight illuminated the floor where he was standing. He almost started chuckling at the obvious intimidation tactic.

A voice came from the shadows, and John instantly knew he was on trial… of sorts. "Colonel John Sheppard…"

Feeling the need to keep things completely legitimate, John donned his smartass hat. He raised a finger to the accusing voice. "That's _Lieutenant-_ Colonel John Sheppard…"

He could feel the eye roll through the black haze in front of him, and slowly the lights came on. A group of six older Travelers sat around a curved table. Obviously passing judgement on him. "You stand before the Traveler high council. It has been eighteen days since the catastrophe at Asuras where under your command, 429 Travelers lost their lives in a battle lost."

John decided then and there that he hated legislature. "Cut the bullshit. I'm not going to be your scapegoat and I'm not going to sugarcoat the situation. We got our asses handed to us and I'm sorry alright? I'm _fucking sorry._" He took a moment to show that while genuinely being sorry, he wasn't going to back down. "The question you should really be asking is 'how the fuck are we going to survive?' because you know damn well the Wraith and Replicators are gonna come after you… and Atlantis."

Now that the lights were coming up, he could see there were actually a dozen men and women sitting at a table before him, all in surprise at his determination and defiance. One of them, an older man who seemed to be in charge stared him down. "Larrin says you are willing to help us. But what help do you really offer? From what I understand there are very few of your people on Atlantis… barely enough to run it."

John had spent days considering it, and his thoughts always came down to a few key points.

The IOA were never going to allow for an evacuation. He'd heard Woolsey and Carter arguing even before Asuras about sending some people to the Milky Way because Atlantis was taking in so many refugees, and the IOA's idiotic insistence that Earth be left out of Pegasus affairs was insulting.

That left Atlantis and Atlantis alone as his resource. "That's kind of my point. Last time I checked there were only 200 people on Atlantis… and from our schematic reports… we could easily fit another fifty thousand."

Now the other Travelers murmured amongst themselves, and Larrin came in from the side where John couldn't see her. "He's right. The city is huge compared to any other infrastructure we've come across. It could easily hold all of us ten times over."

John looked over to Larrin, she seemed… defiant. Maybe he had gotten through to her… and maybe letting her vent on him had been worth it.

_**Atlantis, Colonel Carter's Office**_

Sam took careful note of the request on her desk. Truth be told she'd been expecting it, but after what had happened it felt like an insult. "Request denied."

Radek stiffened; he certainly didn't like her quick dismissal of his request. "I see… may I ask why?"

Sam kept working on her tablet, Sleep was beckoning her but it would be hours before it was allowed. "I've already signed approvals for four other astrophysicists to go back to Earth and the SGC. I can't lose my entire staff right before we have to move the city _again._ So I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to remain at your post."

Radek was fuming now; this was his _life_ she was denying. "I'm not part of the Military. You have no authority to order me to stay."

He was using it as an excuse, and Sam knew damn well what was bothering him enough to want to leave. It bothered her too, but after seeing what happened in the Transporter, she had an inkling how to fix it. "Doctor Zelenka. I am only going to tell you this _once._ You are the most qualified person to be running scientific operations on this base. I have full trust in your decisions and administrative abilities. You _do not_ have to live up to what Rodney did because _you are not Rodney_. And that's _not_ a bad thing. You are fully capable of making your own decisions regarding this city and I _trust_ you."

* * *

Radek remained silent. He'd often thought of Colonel Carter as a more feminine version of the soldiers he'd seen on Atlantis. Perhaps smarter, and definitely more attractive, but now he saw that deep down inside she was a true soldier… and she was encouraging him.

Colonel Carter continued. "I am not asking you to try and fill Rodney's shoes… I could never ask _anyone_ to do that. What I _am_ asking is that you take initiative. This is _your _command now, Radek. And if you seriously don't want it then I don't even want you on this base anymore." She stood up and faced Radek with an impassive face. "If you bring me this letter again tomorrow, I'll sign it. You have till then to figure out what you're going to do, Dismissed."

Radek wanted to argue, he wanted to say that he wasn't ready for this level of responsibility, and that to take over for Rodney just hurt too much as he would be reminded 24/7 of what had happened.

But Radek realized that that would happen anyway, and the only way to run away from this pain would be to abandon the whole science field… So he just nodded curtly and left the room.

To the side he saw Major Lorne prepping his new team, the new AR-1… The Major had 2 Marine Captains and a Combat Engineer… obviously he was expecting battle when and if he went through the gate.

The whole city seemed that way… especially with all the refugees who had taken hospice here. They were taking refuge in one of the side towers not too far from the central tower and the stargate, but already he'd heard of incidents requiring the Military Contingent on Atlantis to resort to police tactics.

Radek didn't know how he ended up at this lab, but something…

No he knew what. This was where Rodney spent most of his waking hours. This is where he'd find him wired on four cups of coffee screaming at the computer and anyone around… pushing harder and harder to prove himself.

Prove what? That he was more than capable? Radek already knew that. Though he never admitted it, he was envious of how Rodney could go from being completely ignorant of a system, and within days become an expert from his utter dedication from studying it. The man would stay up for 18 hours stuck to a console, learning everything he could about a specific system, only going away when Sheppard or Katie would come and drag him away.

So now that Radek sat in the same seat Rodney called his home away from home, he realized that running away would solve nothing. And worse still, it would dishonor the memory of his now gone friend.

He turned on the monitor, and input Rodney's password… Almost no one knew it, and Radek would never use it against him, but now it seemed prudent to see what the man had been working on before his time had come.

Specifically there were bookmarks in the Ancient Database… mostly energy creation and storage folders… a few on weapons… one in particular about a new mode of propulsion… but for the most part these were unexplored aspects and Radek would need more resources to properly study them.

It was then that Radek Zelenka decided to stay; honoring Rodney by completing the work he'd started seemed the most proper way to tear away his grief.

_**Atlantis, Mess Hall (?)**_

_**Dr. Rodney McKay**_

"Sam? Oh my god! _Sam!"_

Rodney ran over to where the Colonel sat with her back to the wall, The white hair and ancient dried out look to the once beautiful woman made Rodney's heart quiver. "_Rod…ney?"_

He quickly knelt next to her and hesitated in touching her. Gone was the strong imposing woman he knew, and only a frail almost lifeless husk remained. "Yes! Oh my god Sam. _Oh my god…"_

Sam turned her head slowly towards Rodney and stared at him with glazed over and hazy eyes. "_Where… where were you?"_

Rodney fought the tears, he really did. But now in a position to see into the mess hall, he saw bodies lying around… husks of the strong men and women who served in Atlantis… tossed carelessly aside after having been fed on. "I… I…"

Sam suddenly reached out and grabbed Rodney's collar. She was surprisingly strong despite the grave injury. "_You… you've gotta… warn…"_

Before she could finish, Sam's throat caught and her pupils receded. Uttering an anguished death rattle, her hand finally let go of Rodney's collar and fell to the floor limply - never to move again under its own power.

Rodney cried. His tears burned his cheeks like never before. Seeing people he lived, worked, and fought alongside… all people he secretly or not so secretly liked and even loved... all dead or on the verge of death… What had happened?

To the side, a sudden bang and explosion warned him of trouble. He quickly checked his body and found an M9 Berretta handgun. Fumbling it around, Rodney held it shakily in the direction of the noise.

The door blew open, and a Wraith Drone lumbered forward. Its stunner rifle was nowhere to be seen, but at the distance it was at it didn't matter. It charged forward towards Rodney with a mighty roar.

Rodney for that matter fell back, scrambling to get to his feet. He pulled the trigger madly and managed to put a few bullets into the Drone, but it fazed off the bullets as if they were just insect bites.

Just as the Drone came right above Rodney at about ten feet of scampering back, a burst of SMG fire tore across the side of the Drone and staggered it. Rodney emptied the clip of the pistol and looked over to where the SMG fire had come from. "_Sheppard! Wha…?"_

The wounded Colonel charged forward with a fierce snarl and threw himself at the Drone. In a flying tackle, he knocked the Wraith to the ground. Rodney instantly felt the need to help him and quickly tried to reload the pistol. Feeling around his body, he found one clip attached to his belt. Fumbling around, Rodney reloaded.

Colonel Sheppard jumped up from his position with a pained groan and struck the Drone with the butt of his P90 again, keeping the creature down and at bay. He slammed it again and again, finally ending up on top of the Wraith and emptying his P90 at close range. Blood spurted up and onto his body. Rodney finished reloading and simply stared at Sheppard in silence.

Sheppard groaned loudly as he rolled on the floor, his breathing was erratic and his voice was shaky. "_Rodney… _where the_ hell _have you_ been?"_

Rodney finally got a good look at Sheppard as the Colonel pulled himself up. Just like Sam, he'd been fed on. His hair was a mix of white and black, his skin wrinkled and his eyes bloodshot. "Sheppard! What the hell's going on!? Where'd the Wraith come from!?"

Moving forward, Sheppard limped to where Rodney was and helped him up weakly. "Goddamn bastards jumped in a cruiser under the shields; kamikaze. Dumped all their darts before we could take em out…"

"What!? That shouldn't be possible! The shields are…"

Sheppard shook his head and shook Rodney to get his attention. "Forget that, it's too late. The city's swarming with em. We're outgunned and _urrgghhh_…"

With a loud groan and minor convulsion, the Colonel heaved over, barely held up by Rodney's grip. "Sheppard! Oh my god… what happened to you?"

Sheppard's throat seized up and let go repeatedly, obviously he was in a tremendous amount of pain. "One of the bastards…_ughhh_.., stunned Teyla… went to help her… _mrrm… _got caught… Ronon got him off me but he got stunned too…" for a moment, the Colonel covered his mouth as if he was gonna lose his stomach. Quickly recovering, he shakily pinned Rodney to the wall in a violent move. "They're gone McKay. Last of us, heading to the gate… I… _ugh…_I need you to go get our people through. Don't let them… Earth! _No Wraith on Earth_! Go back and… _arrrrrgghhhh!_"

Sheppard let out a huge groan as he held his chest and keeled over onto his knees. Rodney could barely hold the man's weight up as anguished cries of pain came from his lungs. "We need to get to the gate… come on Sheppard! We nee…"

With a quick shake of his head, Sheppard pushed Rodney away and forced himself to get back up under his own power. "_No!_ Goddamnit Rodney. I'm dead man walking. I made Keller give me an overdose… _hrrmm… _Stims and painkillers… I got maybe an hour fore I burn through my guts, no chance." with a distasteful laugh, Sheppard looked back at the dead lying on the floor and lingered his gaze on Sam's lifeless husk. "She tried to stop em, got swarmed… _Goddamnit_." he turned back to Rodney and the tears in his eyes said more than words ever could. "_Go_… I'll hold em off ya… buy you time." A few deep breaths and the Colonel pushed away, reloading his P-90.

Rodney had to make it to the Control Room… he had to make sure no one else died needlessly.

* * *

Talia watched with interest. Oberoth was trying a new tactic and for some reason, it seemed to be working. "I do not understand. Why do you impede him from giving us the address?"

Oberoth kept his hand in Rodney's head and continued the simulation; the Wraith Commander that was waiting for Rodney just past the next corner was a new addition to the program, as would be the Asuran interpretation of the Wraith Feeding Process. "Every attempt has been blocked by his ability to detect our presence. But, I have noticed that when he finds himself at major risk… it changes his brain chemistry."

With a mimic of the human frowning expression, Talia also rubbed her chin. "Brain Chemistry? So his body reacts to the stress by weakening his resolve?"

At that moment, in Rodney's mind, the Wraith Commander had swiped the legs out from under him. Despite the scientist's screams of terror, the Wraith let the salivation from his lips fall on his face as he shoved the feeding hand onto Rodney's chest. In the real world however, Rodney's kneeling body simply convulsed and a tormented gasp left his lips involuntarily.

Oberoth would have felt the urge to smile… but satisfaction was a human emotion… and all Oberoth felt was wrath.

**January 22****nd****, 2008**

_**Atlantis, Control Chair Room**_

Standing in the Control Chair room of Atlantis, Major Evan Lorne looked at the chair in front of him and blew a deep sigh. "Never thought I'd get to fly something this big."

To his side, Samantha Carter patted him on the shoulder. "Never thought I'd be riding shotgun."

Even further to the side, Dr Radek Zelenka had finished programming the power sequence. "And I don't believe I ever thought I would be reprogramming an ancient city ship to use rocket boosters."

Sam fought the smirk, but it was a pretty true statement. With only one ZPM, it would be difficult to get the city up into space and not drain their one precious power source. But the threat of the Asurans launching another siege was too great and it had to be done.

So to that effect, the entire city had been preparing for this for almost 2 weeks now. Everyone had been moved to the area around the central spire in order to minimize shielding to the smallest possible area. All the Naquadah Generators the city had were running on controlled overload to give just a few percentage points more to what the city needed.

And as Doctor Zelenka had found, attaching F-302 styled rocket engines to specific hardened points on the city also managed to bump a few percentages off the drain to the ZPM.

They wouldn't take off for another day or two, the preparations still not complete. But the sooner they could get out of here the sooner…

An alarm began to sound, and within moments both Sam and Lorne were on their headsets. "This is Colonel Carter to the control room! Report!"

A few seconds passed, and Chuck's steady voice came through. _"Ma'am, sensors report 5 Hyperspace windows have opened at the edge of the system. Something's jamming our short range sensors so we can't tell what kind of ships they are."_

Sam immediately got into command mode, and looked to Lorne. Without words, the Major nodded and moved to the chair. Sam took a deep breath and began to head to the control room. "Copy that. Major Lorne is going to raise our shields and man the drone weapons. Have all available personnel report in and prepare to dial Midway."

A moment's hesitation and the Canadian Sergeant acknowledged. _"Yes Ma'am… Colonel Caldwell is on the horn."_

With a light jog, Sam charged up the stairs heading up to the control room. "Patch him through!"

A click, a moment of static, and then Caldwell's irritated voice came in. _"Colonel Carter… I'm guessing you can see the fleet heading our way?"_

Sam rolled her eyes but kept her words to herself. "Yes, Colonel! We're raising our shields and arming weapons… what condition is _Daedalus_ in?"

Another hesitation, Sam had noticed many people were reluctant to give her bad news. _"Not good. Hyperdrive is at 25% due to a refit. We've only got one plasma beam operational, and most of our nuclear ordinance was sent down to Atlantis while the ship was being repaired. We're completely outgunned up here."_

Opening the door to the Control Room, Sam jogged quickly through the amphitheater where the gate resided and bounced up the stairs. "Copy that, can you land before we get our shields up?"

_"Negative Colonel, We might be able to distract them for a minute or two but our shields are still considerably weak. I hate to say it but they caught us with our pants down."_

Sam finally walked into control room and saw all her people working hard; it pleased her. It had been weeks since she saw this level of strong activity and it seemed that ever since the quarantine snafu last week, everybody on the base had gotten back to their senses. Sam herself felt much better, and now she was ready for anything that might be coming. "Status… Give me a city wide sit-rep."

Amelia Banks turned in her chair and nodded. "Ma'am, refugees are in Towers 3 and 4, Sergeant Stackhouse and Marine Squad Lima say they're getting a little panicky. Most of our people are in the core of the city and the shield is coming up."

Sam noted it, and looked to Chuck. "Any teams off-world?"

Chuck brought up the information and slid his screen to give Sam a better view. "AR-2 and AR-5 are off world… AR-2 is offering refuge to one of our trade partners, and AR-5 is on a recon mission to a suspected Wraith shipyard… Neither are expected to radio in for several hours."

A curse escaped her mouth, but then Soldier Sam took over. "Damn. Alright, have all departments report in and standby for possible engagement. If it's the Wraith, we'll fight, if it's the Replicators…" A moment's hesitation, followed by a steel backed voice. "…then we launch the city no matter what the condition."

A few of the techs looked at each other, but they were all in agreement. Sam took her position by her command console and began to issue the orders to get it done. Sam tapped her headset and barked. "Major Lorne! City Status?"

"_Drones coming online ma-am! Still out of range but we're ready to shred 'em."_

Sam smirked, the Drone weapons could certainly _shred_ any target they sought out. In a way, Sam was looking forward to this, it was oddly beautiful to see the weapons of precise destruction fly.

So when a transmission came in to Amelia's computer unexpectedly, she blinked and froze for a moment. Once the hesitation was over though, Amelia called out. "Ma'am! I've got a transmission here."

Sam turned in her seat and nodded to her. "Who's it from?"

Amelia furrowed her brow. "It came from those ships Ma'am, but, it's…"

With a motion Sam indicated for her to send it to her console. A moment later, a message popped up on Sam's screen.

"_Lucy! I'm Hooome!"_

Both Sam's eyebrows shot up, and she looked over to Amelia. "You said the ships heading this way sent this?"

Amelia nodded. "Yes Ma'am, ringing one hell of a bell..."

With a chuckle, and a new gleam of hope Sam smiled and tapped her response. "Before your time, Sergeant… hell it was before _my_ time!" She only knew one person in the Atlantis Expedition… in fact the in the _entire_ Pegasus Galaxy who would say something so esoteric in order to prove it was him. "…Send this message back…_ 'Ricky, I thought you left me! Waaaa!' _and once they get closer drop the shields."

Now everyone turned to Sam with honest and sincere surprise. But seeing her suddenly gleaming smile, realized that she knew something was going on… and whoever this _'Lucy'_ and _'Ricky'_ characters were, there was an inside joke in there.

_**USS Daedalus, Bridge**_

"Sir, we're reaching visual range."

Caldwell grumbled softly and input his nuclear codes into his arm console. "Get us into a perpendicular course. I want a sideswipe and perpendicular course."

Marks lamented the damaged state of the ship, and the sluggish way it responded to his commands. "Yes, sir. On screen."

The image resolved into four small dots surrounding a larger bright rod. It took a second for Caldwell to recognize it but then he realized what it was. "Oh damnit, it's an Aurora! Have Missile tubes one through four load nuclear ordinance. Once we're in range-"

The Major furrowed his brow as he looked at the sensor data and interrupted Caldwell. "Sir, wait. I'm getting IDC information…" His eyes went wide. "Sir, It's Colonel Sheppard's IDC! He's on that Aurora!"

Caldwell raised his head from the darkened hunch he was in, and realized that perhaps Colonel Sheppard's lunacy just might have come in handy. "Get me a confirmation on those other ships… Keep our weapons hot just in case."

_**Atlantis, Gate Room**_

Sam was ecstatic, the small hope that she carried within her for the past 2 weeks had proven itself, and now another of her command staff was returning.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs with Major Lorne next to her along with Dr Zelenka. To the side, Dr Keller waited with a small medical team to clear the Traveler delegation. Mere moments were left for the bittersweet reunion.

It was an odd feeling to Sam. John had been her first real executive officer. While on SG1 she and Cameron had come to an agreement to share responsibility and leadership… and she would never think of Daniel, Teal'c or Vala as subordinates. Then again she didn't really see John as much of a subordinate either, he may have been a lower rank… but his support was nothing like what she'd expected. John was truly a friend who assisted her in running the military side of the city, and it just so happened he was coming back in one piece.

At its very core, she was just happy to take another name off the casualties list. "Incoming rings matter stream ma'am. From the Aurora."

Sam nodded without even facing Amelia, and watched as the rings at the base of the Gate Room suddenly shot up, and caught the matter stream. five people came into existence, two of them recognizable.

Colonel Sheppard stepped out, and Sam winced at the sight of him. His cheeks were inflamed and both eyes were darkened with bruising. His step was ever so slightly stiff, as if he'd been tied down. Sam realized that this was most likely the case, but decided to wait until they were in the conference room to talk diplomacy. "Colonel Sheppard…"

John looked up and smiled half-heartedly. "Colonel Carter…"

Sam took a few steps forward. Seeing him alive made her believe in prayer; the urge to hug him to see if he was real wasn't lost on her. "Welcome back."

With a nod, John replied and extended his hand. "It's good to be back…" Sam accepted it and liked how he returned the stiff grip. He turned back to the Travelers behind him, each armed with Particle Magnums and less than friendly faces. "…I brought some guests. Hope you've got the dinner table ready."

Sam suddenly felt horrible that it would fall to her to brief John on everything that had happened in the past few weeks. He likely knew of Apollo's demise; but not Rodney, and certainly not what had happened to Ronon. "You caught us by surprise, but I think we can arrange something." Sam turned to the Travelers and motioned to them "If you'll follow me, our conference room is just up ahead."

The four Travelers including Larrin moved ahead – completely unafraid of any of the SF's or Marines standing guard. Sam noticed Dr, Keller ignored all of them and ran a quick scan using her portable unit. Sam stealthily took step beside Keller who reported quietly. They were all in excellent health, but John's injuries looked like they did require aid. Keller moved to take a look at him but as soon as she neared him his hand went up and his head shook. "Nuh uh… You can poke and prod me all you like… _later._"

Keller looked to Sam who after a moment's hesitation on the steps nodded her head in agreement with John. Sam wasn't fond of the idea of heroes who ignored injury, but right now Atlantis desperately needed those heroes.

_**Atlantis, Conference Room**_

"Sanctuary? That's it?"

Sam wasn't surprised by Larrin's reaction; the other 3 Travelers didn't seem appeased as well. They all remained quiet as if Larrin was their voice. "I'm sorry, Larrin. My government has made it clear that any mass exodus through the Stargates to the Milky Way presents too much of a risk of invasion. If not by the Wraith, then the Replicators."

Larrin shot a glance to John, who with a slight nod passed some unknown message. Sam noticed it but didn't say anything – she'd just ask John later what happened with Larrin. "I'm assuming we're still trying to convince them though?"

Sam leaned back in her chair; her talks with the IOA usually ended in more frustration that she wanted to admit she was capable of tolerating. "Constantly, I've got meetings with each individual responsible for this matter and…"

With a curt shake of her hand, Larrin redirected the conversation. "Wraith shit… I need to know _now_ what we're going to do about this. My people have already suffered from both the Wraith and the Replicators and some are planning on trying to stay out of the conflict. I'm smart enough to know both the Wraith and the Replicators are gonna hunt us down. While I do speak for my people, each Captain is in truth free to do as they wish."

Sam sighed and looked to the whole group. "I'm truly sorry. If it were up to me, I'd have already evacuated the people we have to a planet in our galaxy. The most I can offer is the safety of this base."

Larrin turned again, obviously frustrated. She let out a short sigh and shook her head. "You'll excuse me if I think that's pathetic."

"I agree… " Sam retorted. "But my hands are tied. From what Colonel Sheppard tells me. You've got around five thousand people living on your ships."

"Yeah… we've got about twenty big ships left, another thirty smaller ones, Atlantis would easily hold them all and then some."

Sam stood up, and she nodded with a diplomatic tone. "Of course. Please coordinate with Major Lorne on finding accommodations. I'm sure we can work something out in the meantime."

Now Larrin smiled, and she waved over one of the Travelers behind her. "We can; power. Our scans tell us Atlantis is underpowered right now. I'm willing to offer our engineering staff in helping adapt our power generators for the city. Better than those Naquadah reactors I detected."

Sam felt like he should have been offended, but John spoke before she could reply. "I'm sure McKay and Zelenka would be glad to give you a hand with that."

Every Atlantean in the room winced and hid their grimace. It was plainly obvious that John had no clue what had happened.

_**Atlantis, Gate Room Balcony**_

"I'm… I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you."

John sat on the floor with his legs sitting up. None of the other Atlanteans or even Travelers dared go out onto the balcony where Sam had taken John to brief him. "You know, I expected it. I saw Apollo go down. How'd Ronon get out?"

Sam sat across from John, it seemed perfect for the two leaders to commiserate in such a relaxed yet uncomfortable position. "John, I don't think…"

With a terse voice, barely showing the edges of anger and grief in John's mind, he repeated himself. "_How._ _did Ronon. get out?"_

"The Wraith captured him." It was excruciating to live it through again. Sam sighed softly and relented. "They sent darts down to Asuras to steal ZPMs during the skirmish. He was about to detonate one of them when he got caught in their culling beam. Last time he saw Rodney, he'd been shot in the leg and the Asurans were right on top of him."

John rubbed his eyes. Sam knew the pain of the bruised flesh was nothing compared to knowing Rodney was dead. "_Goddamnit_… Who else?"

"Everyone on Apollo, the rest of the strike team, and we've lost two more teams to Asuran surprise attacks while evacuating civilians. A few MIA offworld as well; no clue what happened to them."

John winced again. "So what's the casualty count?"

It was too much information too fast, Sam hated having to be the one to tell John all this and looked away from him. "John, you just got back. You look like a piñata and technically, you're still MIA. We need to contact Earth and get this whole mess sorted out."

John sighed again and nodded. "Yeah, yeah I bet. Did they notify Jeannie?"

It had been a heart wrenching call, but Sam had been the one to do it. "Yeah… she didn't take it so well."

Sam watched as John ran his hands through his hair, the stress overloading what control her had. She knew what was coming next. "God_-damnit!" _John screamed as he smashed the wall behind him with the bottom of his fist. Sam knew the control room staff probably could hear him, but it shouldn't have surprised any of them. A lone Marine guard by the door spared John a look, but then resumed his duties.

Sam understood, she really did. But her method of grieving was different, hitting solid metal wasn't exactly how she vented. "I know. The IOA didn't want to let her through the gate to get his things. It's going out with the next shipment to Earth."

With his trembling hand now pinching his brow, John asked more. "How did Ronon get away from the Wraith?"

Sam rubbed her mouth and sighed. "John, I really don't think you should be jumping back in so fast, you…" She looked at the injured man in front of her, and wondered exactly how bad Larrin had flogged him. "Well, look at you. The only reason I'm holding Keller at bay is because I…" another moment of hesitance, and she almost whispered the last part. "I know how close you were to Rodney, and I owe it to him that you hear it from me."

Sam realized that the loss of Rodney had been hard on everyone, but the look of mild surprise on John's face told her that he hadn't understood her own relationship with the quirky Canadian. "I, Thank you. Seriously. I appreciate you doing this, but if the Wraith have ZPMs-"

Sam shook her head quickly and blew a sigh of relief. "No, the only good news is Ronon used a tablet Rodney gave him to detonate the ZPMs the Wraith stole. That Wraith that you knew saved him and dropped him off at Sateda. As much as I'd love to rip his throat out, I guess he does have some kind of honor."

John rubbed his face – a clever way to disguise wiping away wet eyes and pulled himself up. "Alright I guess I've made Keller wait long enough…"

With a nod, Sam smiled at John as she stood as well. "You sure have, I'm sure she'll…" Before she could finish, the sound of an alarm came through and brought them both to full alertness. Sam tapped her headset as John looked at her expectantly. "This is Colonel Carter, What's going on?"

Sergeant Banks came through with a sharp edge to her voice. _"Colonel Carter, we have AR-2 on the other side of the gate. I'll patch you through."_

John didn't have a headset. His look of confusion didn't surprise Sam. "What? What is it?"

Sam got to her feet as well and listened carefully, static crackled in her head and she concentrated on the noise. A moment later Captain Cadman's voice came in under obvious duress from what sounded like battle. _"…repeat! This is Captain Cadman here. Dammit Atlantis come in!"_

"I'm here Captain! Report! Is that gunfire in the background?"

"_No ma'am! Artillery! We've…" _The transmission cut for a moment, and Cadman continued with her report. A washed out rumble had Sam pull the headset away for a moment so she didn't hurt her ears. Once it passed Cadman came back on the radio. "_… Jesus fuck, that was close. Colonel, the situation has destabilized on this planet! Once we told them about the Wraith and Replicators they started fighting over who was in charge! The entire country has…" _another explosion, and now the sound of automatic gunfire. "_… Goddamnit! Get on that pillar and give me some cover fire! Hester, blow that wall down with this, that'll be our exfil. Colonel?"_

John leaned in closer trying to listen in, but Sam batted him away trying to keep her concentration. "Quit it! No wait, Yes! Captain I'm here! We'll send a Jumper to get you out right away!"

With a grunt, John turned around and motioned for the Marine nearby to come over and took his earpiece. Soon, he too was listening to the cacophony of the battle on the other side of the wormhole. _"Negative! That's a negative Colonel! Artillery fire has taken out the gate supports and it's lying on its face. My team is holed up in their DHD room but we're cut off! We can't get to the gate and they're targeting us!"_

* * *

vvJohn wanted to scream, _more_ friends of his were now in peril. He shot a desperate look to Sam, pleading to do something. Sam simply starred back with an ice cold expression so different than the sympathetic friend earlier. "Copy Captain. Fall back and await reinforcements. Don't do anything drastic."

Automatic weapons fired in the background. Cadman cursed a blue streak before yelling _"Fall back! Do not engage! Fall back dammit!" _An explosion, and the short and shrill scream of a man near Cadman. _"Hester! Fuck fuck fuck! You better send someone __fast__ or you won't even need body bags!"_

More gunfire, screaming, and a final explosion put an end to the frantic report. "Captain, Captain, Respond!" Sam winced, John could only think more casualties… _more dead._ "…Amelia, patch me through to Colonel Caldwell."

John closed his eyes and pushed on them with his palms. The Travelers had told him how crippled _Daedalus_ was. Options… he needed options…

"_Caldwell on the line ma'am."_

Again, the Colonel didn't sound exactly friendly. _"What is it Colonel? We're still putting the pieces back together here."_

Sam turned around and faced John as he let go of his face. He wondered if she could see the rage in his eyes. His voice was calm. "They're in no shape to go."

Ignoring him, Sam asked. Just like a military leader, exhausting one option after the other. "Colonel, I've got a team under fire and access through the gate is impeded. I need _Daedalus_ to…"

Interrupting, Caldwell sounded like he wanted to curse. _"No can do Colonel. Hyperdrive is barely running and more than likely we'd burn out and get stranded. Chief Thompson estimates another two days for half strength hyperdrive if he prioritizes it."_

"Damn." She turned back to John, her expression now almost pleading. "Please tell me you've got an idea."

John simply remained impassive and after a moment, nodded. "Larrin has ships."

Sam turned away – John could tell she was embarrassed she hadn't thought of such an obvious solution. She quickly got over it and turned back. "Will she help us?"

John rubbed his mouth and shrugged his head around. "I'll talk to her. Convince her to take us to get Cadman's team out."

"Do whatever you have to." Sam's voice had determination behind it. "Lie, cheat, steal… you've got my full backing as long as you don't break the rules."

With a snort, John realized that yes… yes he would indeed break the rules now. "No promises."

Sam smiled. John had chosen the right time to come back.

_**Atlantis, Corridor to Engineering Lab**_

The hallway wasn't the best place for this conversation, but this wasn't the first time John had been this close to Larrin… although it was the first time it was optional. He'd cornered her and leaned on the wall with one hand, boxing her in against a bulkhead. It was a very personal mode of talking to someone but John felt he needed every edge.

Once he'd finished making his request, Larrin's reply wasn't surprising. "You can't be serious."

John shook his and looked to the ground ashamed. Larrin didn't seem that impressed with his request. "Believe me, I wish I were."

Larrin groaned softly and rubbed her face. John could tell this was not the first allied move she had wanted to make. "I came here because I know my people can't survive this war on their own, not to become your mounts."

John replied sharply. "Damnit Larrin, You know that's not what this is. All I'm asking for is a ship. _One_ ship to give us a ride and bring our people back."

"I've been here less than an hour; I haven't even met with your engineers yet, and already you're asking for something like this?"

John understood Larrin's position; he'd be feeling the same. But this was important and John was ready to do anything. "_One Ship_… all we need is a ride. No combat, no risk. Just get my team in and out and that's it."

Larrin huffed softly and looked away from John. She seemed almost disgusted. "Why can't your people send a ship? You have one floating in orbit."

"I told you. It's _crippled_. It's _been_ crippled ever since it limped back from Asuras."

With a not so gentle push, Larrin shoved John aside and moved off. John restrained himself from grabbing her. "I need to coordinate with your engineers, get this place powered up enough to take off."

With a bowed head, John hissed through clenched teeth. "_Larrin!"_

She turned, not a single soul was around them, John was glad that nobody would see this. "What?"

John moved closer, they were _very_ close. Easily within each other's personal space. John kept his voice low, almost a whisper. "You don't know this, but I've _never_ begged for anything."

"That's hard to believe."

Holding back his harsh tongue at her easy shot, John closed his eyes and bowed his head in humility. "You see what you've reduced me to? _Goddamn it_… I'm begging you Larrin, _I'm begging you! One ship!_ That's it._" _Despite trying, he still gave his voice a certain degree of hostility – especially with his one finger to emphasize his request.

Larrin for that matter remained silent. She stared back at him with a slowly changing expression. John wondered what she was thinking as she looked at him. Her expression softened and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "You really do want to save them don't you? It _matters _to you."

"Of course it does." John shot back. He was angry and it had to be shown. "I don't doubt you'd do the same in my position. Help me, and you _know _I'll help _you _when it counts."

Larrin sighed and shook her head. "Well you just shot down any chance you had with me. Beggars are the lowest form of life to a Traveler."

He'd gotten through to her – John knew he'd gotten through and the only way he could take back just a bit of his dignity was to shoot back. "Well it's a good thing beggars _can_ be choosers then."

Larrin eyes went askew from what John now realized must have been an unknown idiom, but the communication line was already open. "Uh, This is Larrin. Katana please come in."

_**Pegasus World **_

_**Ruled by Queen Harmony**_

Cadman loved explosives. In fact, anything of a high temperature or energetic material was something that she held close to her heart. The fun she'd had in college with Cesium, Hydrogen, and in one special case, freakin' Trinitrotoluene were memories that would never leave her.

Just like now, when those energetic materials were pointed in her direction. _Especially_ when they tossed enough dirt, rocks and broken tree shards at her to cut through her BDU's and make some minor cuts and scrapes. "Keep moving! Come on Hester… don't pass out on me now…"

_"That's the least of my worries cap…" _The Master Sergeant she helped along was in high spirits, though Cadman knew this drudge through a freakin' boreal forest was doing him no real good.

Cadman shook the Sergeant even as she helped him along. The artillery shell that had landed not ten feet away from him in the DHD room had showered him in shrapnel that tore his armor to shreds and sent him into a fugue like shock. The fall down the stone steps he'd been guarding didn't help any either, and his injuries were severe. Moving was the last thing he needed.

But to stay in the contested Gate Room was just a little more dangerous. "Yeah well, you have any idea how complicated the paperwork for casualties is? You wouldn't do that to me would ya?"

To the side, Marine Corporal Edward Grant took cover behind a tree and used his binoculars to try and assess their followers. His left arm was in his shirt acting as a sling from taking fire from a low caliber weapon. "Captain! Looks like we're outta the meat grinder but I've got a squad following us, Look like Genii."

With a grunt and curse, Cadman continued to help Sergeant Hester limp away from the battle. She looked over to the last member of her team, another Marine, Lance Corporal Eli Jenkins who moved ahead to clear any possible obstruction. Thankfully, he hadn't been wounded but the frantic nature of the sudden battle was starting to get to him. "Jenkins! Plant some claymores!" she turned back to Grant and motioned with her head. "You too, Grant! I'm gonna try and get Hester to that ridge up there! Don't dawdle! These bastards are playing for keeps!"

Cadman knew the two Marines would do their duty. Hester managed to fumble out a reply to her earlier question. "_…sorry cap…won't happen again."_

Her laugh was more to keep calm than anything else. The sounds of shells, screams, and gunfire now lay behind her in the main city. Her team would survive, because even though Laura Cadman may have moved to the Air Force to further her career, at heart she would be _Semper Fi._

_**Atlantis, Colonel Carter's OFfice**_

John didn't even give a foreword or introduction, he simply walked into Sam's office and went into it head first. "Larrin's lending us a ship. And the Air Force owes me my dignity back."

Sam sighed in relief as she looked up at him. John's ability to use humor to mask even the darkest situations was… reassuring. It wasn't unlike General O'Neill, another person she missed. "I'll see what I can do about requesting one for you with the next relief shipment. Which reminds me, I'm gonna need your report to send to the SGC with our next…"

John shook his hand and head in unison. "After I get back."

With a sudden raise of her brows, Sam stared at John. "And where exactly do you think you're going?" His cold stare told her everything that was on his mind. "You can't be serious. Look at you!"

With a shrug of his shoulders, John scoffed. "I'm just sore. Two weeks tied to a chair does that to you." The humor didn't have its intended effect, and John tried to be reasonable "I'm fine Carter. Keller can take a quick look and confirm it if you want but I'm going."

Getting up from her desk, Sam saw that John was deadly serious. "I'm worried too, John. That's why I'm sending a tactical strike team. But technically you're still MIA. You shouldn't even be in here."

John laughed softly as he scoffed. "Oh, technically huh? Good. Keep it that way till I get back."

Now Sam understood exactly what John wanted, and even worse, he'd given her a legal way to get out of being responsible. "I…" She made an annoyed grunt and then shook her head. "Anyone ever tell you you're a difficult man to hate?"

"Story of my life."

"Go." She smiled and nodded, enjoying the look of surprise John now wore. "I can take this bullet, just don't make me want to pull the trigger." The smile on John's face was exactly what Sam needed to see. She'd spent enough time with John to know how he operated and what level of trust to give him. Apparently he appreciated it. "Major Lorne, please come in."

A moment went by before Lorne replied. "_Yes Colonel, I was just giving the Traveler Council a quick tour of…"_

"Take a break and organize a combat strike force." Sam quickly spat out orders. "I want marines with urban training and combat experience to meet with Colonel Sheppard in ten minutes in the armory. All stores are free for use. We're going on a rescue mission."

Sam met John's gaze as they both came to an unsaid agreement. Neither was going to abandon anyone, and both were going to support each other fully.

_**Atlantis, Armory**_

The Marines were assembled in front of John with expressionless faces. Ronon and Lorne on the other hand were by the rear of the armory already knowing what was going on. Every one of the handpicked Marines had heard what was going down and knew that they were about to enter heavy combat. John looked at them all one by one and could see they weren't going to back down from this. He owed it to them to say it himself. "Alright Marines. Here's the situation; the Travelers are going to give us a ride to the planet where AR-2 is currently under heavy fire. We'd go through the gate but it's blocked. The plan is to find the team by their subcutaneous transmitters and get them out. It's likely they're either in hiding or have been captured. We're going in weapons hot and rules of engagement are hot zone. Don't wait for them to shoot you."

The eight man Marine squad became a little disquieted by the order; it was unlike their typical ROE back on Earth. The Marine Captain – Fullerton - in charge of the squad of enlisted Marines spoke up. "Sir, what's the situation on the planet?"

"From what we can tell…" John understood what was going through their minds. It would be going through his under the same circumstances. "…the political situation on the planet has broken down into civil war. I actually went there a few months ago, and they weren't exactly all that technological. What's got us worried is that Captain Cadman's last report made it clear that there were artillery guns as well as automatic weapons being used. I'm not taking any chances and we're going in with assault gear since it's pretty FUBAR. We're going to move in fast and hard. The planet has decent infrastructure and we don't know where Cadman's team is going to be. So I want P90s and M249s, I also want two M25s and two AT-4-CS's, no telling what kind of vehicles they've got if artillery is on the board. Clear?"

Eight instant acknowledgements. "Sir, yes, sir!" John loved how the Marines just shrugged off any confusion and got the job done – being a flyboy did have its perks though.

"One last thing, don't bother grabbing sidearms, the Traveler's got us a little present for our first allied mission together."

Every marine instantly smiled. Near the rear of the room, Ronon on the other hand grimaced. With a nod, John motioned them to move into the armory and load up. He walked over to Major Lorne and Ronon. "You guys coming?"

Lorne shook his head. "No sir. Colonel Carter's asked me to stay behind and make sure the Traveler's don't cause any trouble. I don't think they will but she's the boss. If you'll excuse me, sir."

John didn't feel too bad for Lorne, this wasn't going to be a fun trip. Ronon grunted and gave John a gentle shove. "Heard you were looking for me."

"Yeah. You okay?"

Ronon hesitated a moment. "Rodney's dead. We're alive."

With those words, and the unspoken communications between them as they looked at each other, everything came into focus. "Yeah, we are. So let's go get our people back, huh Chewie?"

A growl escaped Ronon's throat. John always found it creepy how he enjoyed fights.

* * *

John stopped for a moment on his way to the Jumper Bay, she hadn't even seen him and already he was going to run off into combat. It was already hard enough seeing Ronon, he _needed_ to do this. "Catch up with you in a second."

Ronon turned, gave John an odd expression, but then realized what he was going to do. "I'll wait. Go."

John nodded and moved off. It would only take a second.

A few minutes later, John found her. Teyla was in the gateroom balcony, obviously having come looking for him. "Teyla."

She didn't turn, but John could tell that Teyla was likely just hiding her emotions as she often did. "John."

Moving forward, John stopped before actually touching Teyla. Behind them in the Gate Room– more Travelers ringed down with materials. A few Air Force and Marine personnel stuck around ostensibly guarding the whole situation. John desperately wanted her to look at him, just prove to her that he was alive. "I have to go."

"I know."

Was that what was bothering her? That John had seemingly escaped death and torment only to walk into another firestorm?

Teyla seemed to be able to read his mind as she finally turned, and he could see that she was holding back her emotions. All he wanted was to hold and reassure her that everything was going to be okay, that he was going to be here for her now that Rodney was gone. Instead they just stared at each other for a few moments, and John bowed his head finally and said. "I have to go."

He had turned, John was already moving away. Teyla's voice cut through what little emotional defense he had left. "_John!"_

Turning back, John saw Teyla step towards him and put her hands on his cheeks. She was noticeably more pregnant, a glow about her that he hadn't noticed till just now. He bowed his head into hers, the typical Athosian greeting. He could just barely see the rueful smile on her face.

It quickly ended, and Teyla wrapped her arms around John and squeezed him tightly before saying softly. "_Be careful."_

That's all John wanted. Just to let Teyla know he was there, and that he was going to do his _damnedest_ to stay there. "I'm always careful."

Teyla's less than convinced expression reassured him more than anything else she could do.

_**Traveler Ship, "Sotero"  
Shuttle Bay**_

"Rodney died a hero. He blew up the Wraith."

John furrowed his brow at Ronon's words as he sat waiting in the cargo bay. The Jumper sat across from him – several men and a crate of ammo inside. There was just enough room to fit Cadman's team if they squeezed, which John figured they wouldn't mind. The hull looked damp and dirty, but John didn't worry about this place. The marines around were prepping – cleaning and checking the sights and safeties on their guns.

"Carter said you did it. Rodney gave you his tablet and-"

" "I plugged it in." Ronon's response was instant and harsh. "It was his work that made it blow up. It wouldn't have worked without Rodney."

It was an interesting way to think, and John liked it. "I guess if you look at it that way." John still didn't want to think about how Rodney died. Ronon seemed to have gotten past it and this was his hold on reality. "He really was something wasn't he?"

A nod and Ronon twirled the shiny new Traveler blaster they had given the Atlanteans. "Yeah, he was."

An attractive brown skinned woman entered the cargo bay from the front of the ship and looked around. The leathers and dark colors she wore fit well with the dark hair as well. She spotted Sheppard and waved him over. "Sheppard, we need to talk."

John nodded to Ronon and got up quickly. His sore muscles ached and it would be weeks in the gym to restore his physical condition from before, but that was the least of his concerns.

He walked over and nodded. "Hey, Captain Katana right? Thank you for-"

"I'm doing this because Larrin asked me to." Katana interrupted. "What I want to know is if the situation were reversed, would you help us?"

John was a little taken aback by the question, but answered immediately. "Well, yeah. It's not like we're enemies."

Katana kept her voice harsh. John had expected some hostility but not blatant. "But we're not exactly allies either. We came to Atlantis hoping your people were as good as Larrin said they were. All I'm seeing is people who take and barely give back."

She was pissed, and John was pissed off as well. "Yeah well what did I tell you when Larrin brought me before your council? Atlantis will do everything it can. _I'm_ going to do everything I can."

The Traveler woman leaned closer. John was glad the others couldn't hear them. "What can _you_ do? You had to beg Larrin to even get this ship."

John leaned in closer as well, now infuriated. "That's right; I did beg her for this. And right now your people are completely welcome on Atlantis; you don't have to worry about the Wraith feeding on you or your children as long as we have power for the shields."

"Those shields'll only have power because we're installing our generators, you can't even run that city properly."

This had gone on long enough and John was in no mood for a circular argument. "Bottom line is we _need_ each other. Today we're saving _my_ people. Next week when the rest of your ships arrive we'll be saving _your_ people. So if you can't take that then just shut up and follow your orders."

It was a harsh statement, and John saw he broke whatever argument the woman had. She softened her features and broke the stare with a rude snort. "Larrin was right about you." She didn't let him speak and instead spoke more respectfully. "We'll be at the planet in forty minutes. Make sure your men are ready, you're welcome to come to the bridge."

John wanted to ask more, but Katana merely turned and walked away. He noted that several Travelers had taken guard positions on the other side of the bulkhead door for the cargo bay – a sensible precaution. He turned back to Ronon who walked up and nodded. "That didn't look good."

"When are things _ever _good?"

_**Pegasus Planet  
Ruled by Queen Harmony**_

The ridge had turned out to be a horrible idea as the Genii bastards causing this war had decided the same as her and were waiting. It had been a close call, but AR-2 had managed to evade them for the time being by doubling back and sneaking past their claymore wounded pursuers. Now back in the war torn city, they had holed up in a basement awaiting the reinforcements Carter had promised.

The only problem? Hester was dying. "_Hey… cap…"_

Laura knew explosives and even mechanical engineering to a degree. She could easily shape and deploy C4 charges that could cut through a door with little more than a bang, or wire a complicated mess that would turn hardened bunkers into nothing more than broken concrete. But when it came to people, Laura was only a little above average. "Sarge, come on, you need to rest."

The basement they were in was damp and cold, Laura had opened her survival kit and draped the blanket over Hester to try and keep the man warm. Jenkins stood by the door with his P90 at the ready while Grant got some much needed rack time. Laura had dressed his injured arm with what she could but without a doctor, only anti-biotics would keep it from infecting.

Laura herself was pushing her own limits. She'd been awake for 26 hours now and the urge to sleep was there. Dexadrine kept her alert but it would only last so long. She endured though because this was _her_ team, _her_ responsibility. Just because half the nation wanted to follow some brat as their queen, and the other half decided to follow the wicked stepsisters was no reason for her team to get involved.

Let alone the Genii, what possible motive could they have for being here? And where the _hell_ had they gotten heavy weapons from? It's not like they could easily bring artillery shells and cannons through the Stargate unnoticed. That left only two possible situations. The Genii either had a very large interest in the planet and brought it all right before Cadman dialed Atlantis, or they'd been here in subterfuge long enough to infiltrate the government to build those weapons in preparation.

Hester coughed violently and curled up reflexively. Laura held him down and pulled out her canteen. As soon as he stopped coughing, Hester refused the water. His voice was criminally weak. _"No point, save it."_

_Goddamnit. _Laura whispered. "Drink."

Hester chuckled and shook his head. "Cap, can I ask you something?"

Laura shook her head. "Just drink, Sergeant."

"Why'd you leave the marines?"

She could see what he was doing – if he'd asked for anything, she'd give it to him now. "Well, the air force had a better program for me."

"Do you miss em…? The Marines?"

Another hard question. "Yeah. Doesn't get better than the marines. Now come on Hester, stop asking crazy questions and drink some water."

The Air Force Sergeant coughed once more, and lay back as he stared off into space. "I wanted to be a marine. Pops wouldn't hear it though." he scoffed for a bit, then continued as Laura listened to him. " _'No son of mine's gonna die in the desert.'_ Ha, so I ended up in air force blues."

Laura saw he just wanted to talk, and maybe get some solace. She couldn't deny him. "Well they fit nice at least, and you made it to Atlantis."

Hester gulped suddenly, almost as if he felt something coming up and wanted it to stay down. "Cap, you think I coulda been a marine?"

Many people had asked Laura that question. Her standard answer was that if they _could_ have, they _would_ have. But seeing Hester lying on the floor near death after holding off the initial attack group on his own; Laura couldn't help herself. "Yeah, I think you could have. Might wanna look for a transfer when we get back."

A few laughs escaped his mouth, and Hester's eyes began to drift as he gripped his dog tags. His breathing sharpened as he whispered. _"Tell pops would ya?"_

Laura saw it from the beginning. She saw how Hester had finally reached the end of his endurance and began to slip away. "Hester?" His body began to go limp, and his face softened from the grimace it was to a blank expression. "…_Hester_…?" the man was non-responsive, now letting out the final breath from his lungs. _"Hester!"_

He was gone; his hand now a death grip around the tags around his neck. Laura bit her lip hard to hold back the sobs. She's seen men die before and it always tore a piece of her with it too. This was so much more personal. With a silent move, she used her hand to shut his now blank eyes.

Laura sat back and leaned against the concrete wall; somewhere off in the distance the sound of gunfire and an explosion rocked the building enough for dust to fall. The dust that swirled in the air was harsh and burned both her eyes and lungs, but it was nowhere near as bad as losing a member of her team. Tears flowed silently as she took a moment to herself. It was only a moment though - there were still two others looking to her for leadership.

It took her a few seconds as she gently slid the dog tags out from his stiff hand, and using her teeth she tore the strip in half. There was no telling whether they'd be able to come back for his body, but at the very least she'd be able to tell Colonel Carter how he died, and how in her eyes Air Force Master Sergeant Hester had passed his test to be a Marine.

_**Traveler Ship "Sotero"  
Bridge**_

"Coming out of hyperspace."

John watched the screen on the bridge of Katana's ship as the craft popped out of hyperspace. Below them lay a pristine blue and green planet not unlike Earth. The thought that this planet might come under attack from the Wraith or god forbid the Replicators was a hard pill to swallow. "Are we within sensor range?"

Katana looked to her technician and nodded. "Almost. We'll have a detailed scan in a minute."

It was a tense minute to say the least, John had taken the near hour it took to get here to show Katana a record of Cadman's message from the planet. The way her eyes widened hadn't been lost on him. He hoped to show her the loyalty to his people – the same loyalty he wanted to get with the Travelers. "Scans are coming in, we're detecting a lot of smoke and fires in the central city where the Astria-Porta is." The screen ahead changed to an isometric view of the landscape, heat signatures of bodies and machines moved all over the place. "Looks like Genii technology. Did you know it was them?"

John shook his head; he and Sam were going to have to have a word with Ladon Radim after this. "No, they've been quiet recently. It doesn't make sense for them to do something like this."

Katana gave him a scornful scoff. "Well they're doing it, and it looks like they aren't pulling any punches either."

Examining the map, John could see two main forces. One that seemed to be using the forest as a main headquarters; the legitimate government he assumed seeing as the other force was a bit more spread out, but still trying to get closer. The lack of Genii technology in the forest dwellers told him his assessment was correct. "Alright, can you scan for the transmitter signal we gave you earlier?"

Katana nodded and tapped it into her console. "Yeah, it should be showing up right about… now."

On the same isometric view, four blips began to pulsate. three of them were inside a sheltered building near the edge of the forest… one of them was separated from the rest and… "Oh _damnit!_" The heat signature from the one separated blip was non-existent - buried in the garden of a bombed out building. John took a moment to consider how best to do this. He looked over to Katana and kept his voice low. "Think you can give us a little fire support?"

Katana's eyebrows rose. "Fire support?"

"If I paint a target down there, think you can hit it from up here?"

The Traveler's face hardened. "My orders were to give you a ride here and back. There was nothing about _fire support_."

John rubbed his face - it _was_ asking a lot of the Travelers. Looks like they'd have to do this the hard way. "Alright, that's fine. We'll take the Jumper we brought. Thanks for the ride."

Try as he might, the scorn in his voice wasn't completely masked. He didn't care though, already one person was dead down there and what looked like an armored infantry division was heading to the forest base, as well as the building where what was left of AR-2 was. John had to hurry, and he was glad the Marines were ready for combat.

_**Jumper 2, Cockpit  
Above Queen Harmony's Planet**_

The ride down to the planet was uneventful, but it was clear there was something wrong on the surface. John made out trails of black smoke coming from the major population centers. Scanners picked up several vehicles around the city itself, - probably self-propelled artillery. John focused on the task at hand and locked onto Cadman's signal. He called out so the crew of marines could hear. "Alright, we're gonna try and put down as close to building as we can. Any luck and we'll only get light to medium contact. Remember, engage on sight, and shoot to kill. We are _not _fucking around here."

A cry of '_Oorah' _from the Marines in the hold was his only acknowledgement. It was a bit cramped with all their equipment and gear, but clearly they hoped for light contact as well. Seeing the devastation of the almost medieval village from what looked like high caliber weapons reminded many of the gulf war veterans of the sands of the Middle East. John himself felt some nostalgia… unbidden for, but it still came to him.

At least this time it was a _sanctioned_ rescue mission. He zoomed in and made out targets on the ground. "We've got hostiles moving in on the target building. Looks like Genii foot soldiers and…_the hell?_ Is that a _tank_?" John zoomed in the image as something akin to a T-34 Main Battle Tank rumbled down the street festooned with machine guns and what looked like a primary cannon – maybe fifty millimeter. John turned to the Marine Captain seated next to him and grimaced. "Where the hell'd they get that?"

The Marine captain shrugged, but pointed at the building on the HUD. "Don't think it matters, sir. They're moving on our team's position. That building'll take a decent amount of fire but it won't last."

John let the shock wear off, and then pressed the communications button. "Right. This is Colonel John Sheppard to anyone on Atlantis Recon-Two. Repeat, this is Colonel John She-"

_"Holy shit!"_ Almost panicked, Cadman's voice came over the radio. _"Jesus H. Christ, Colonel. Is that really you?"_

Realizing that Cadman still didn't know about his dramatic return, John held back his rebuke at her language. "Yes Captain. We're in a cloaked Jumper heading to your position. Get your men ready, we're-"

_"I've got wounded sir!" _Cadman's voice came back again, even more worried than before. _"Corporal Jenkins took fire and I don't think we should move him! We've fought off two infantry assaults already but we're running out of ammo! Do __not__ recommend you open fire from the air! These bastards have something like an RPG. Easily take down a Jumper."_

The curse was stuck in John's throat, and he realized that combat was inevitable. With almost sixty men moving down the street covering their tank, it was going to be a hard fight. Cadman must have _really _pissed them off. "Copy that Captain. We'll land on the roof of the building you're in and deploy defensive positions." He turned and looked at the team medic, a serious looking man with a big red cross on his armor. "I've got a combat medic here. Boots on the ground in thirty."

On the screen, the tank the Genii soldiers were covering moved into range and stopped. John watched in the zoomed screen as it aimed the main cannon it had and fired.

The building that Cadman had taken cover in was surprisingly resilient, its solid rock design was a perfect bullet stop and obvious Cadman had realized that before garrisoning it. Despite a large dust cloud and spray of shrapnel, the building stayed resolute despite the divot on the wall. Cadman on the other hand screamed over the radio. _"Copy Colonel! Faster is better!"_

John blew a breath, bowed his head and prayed. On his dog tags it stated his religion as no preference, but he knew some deity must exist - the math was too hard not to believe. He only hoped that it listened to prayers.

* * *

"_Gunny! Suppressive fire on that tank!"_ Captain Fullerton waved his Gunnery Sergeant into position with the AT-4-CS launcher. He then raised his hand as his troops spilled out of the still hovering Jumper and took defensive positions behind the roof edge of the building. _"Defensive positions! Fire at will!"_

John finally set the Jumper down proper and kept the cloak on, he jumped out and was glad he'd put his ER-10 earplugs in as three P-90s and a duo of M249 SAW's ripped what little was left of the calm in the area.

John was right on Ronon's heels as they left the Jumper. A doorway leading down into the building had just broken through by Ronon; two marines and the Medic right along with the when the Gunny screamed. "Fire in the hole!" and let loose with an AT-4. John took a moment to watch as the missile streaked out and left a smoke trail in its wake. The Genii soldiers were caught completely by surprise when their heavy armored vehicle was suddenly torn apart by the anti-tank round – punching into it and detonating inside like some kind of terrifying fragmentation grenade.

The Genii soldiers scattered – many of them wounded from the shrapnel and shockwave. They scampered to the sides of the stone street – broken buildings gave them some cover, long since abandoned by civilians.

The Marines on top of the building where AR-2 were cheered with a crescendo of _'Yeah!' and 'Oorah!'_, but the celebration was quickly ended when the fourty or so Genii soldiers left returned fire – bullets pockmarking the edge of the roof with fragmented rock and dust. The Marine Captain bellowed out. "Cover positions! Return fire!"

John didn't hear more as he charged down the stairs with his P90 at the ready. He heard a recognizable burst of fire from ahead amidst the cacophony of weapons fire. John rushed forward and saw Cadman on one knee next to a window. The bursts that fired from her P-90 were controlled, but it was obvious she was nowhere near calm. "Cadman!"

Cadman emptied her clip, turned back to cover, and winced as bullets landed outside the window suppressing her. Her hand came up covering her face which John could see was smeared with blood. Her expression was one somewhere between terrified and enraged. She nodded to John and Ronon who also ducked and took cover beside her.

John surveyed the situation around him; Lance Corporal Jenkins lay on a table nearby with a hand holding down a bloody field dressing on his chest, most of the room had been torn apart, but thankfully they had a good position to return fire and take cover.

Cadman screamed above the loud popping of bullets around them. "Glad you're alive sir, but I just ran out of ammo!"

The Specialist Medic came into the room carrying his field kit – ducking as stray fire landed near him. John had to admire his lack of fear as he charged in and ducked and weaved. Nothing hit him and he quickly reached the back where he and Jenkin's would be out of the killzone. The pair of Marines on John's tail took up other defensive positions and used dropped tables and cabinets for extra cover along the windows. John crawled over to where Cadman was as bullets and shrapnel flew overhead. It'd been a long time since he'd been under fire like this but instinct and training took over. He scrambled up beside Cadman and readied his P90. He then tossed her a few spare mags from off his vest. He wasn't too surprised to see Cadman's vest was almost empty of all its equipment "Won't be for long if they keep this up, Gimme a sitrep!"

"A sitrep? _Now?_" Cadman reloaded her P-90, and waited for John and Ronon to get into place by the window. John pushed Cadman deeper into cover and took a higher more dangerous position above her. She stayed below and aimed out. Ronon and the two marines laid down more suppressive fire on the Genii below from the next window. A few who'd taken weak cover took hits, but the majority held their line outside the building. They fired in a staggered formation – slowly approaching and covering each other with a constant flow of bullets. It would take time but they would eventually overrun this position. _"Ask them! Why the fuck are they trying to kill us?"_

Taking cover again as fire landed closer, he pulled Cadman back who didn't complain. John heard the medic beside Jenkins curse and begin trying to stabilize the wounded man. It didn't look good. "Noted!"

Cadman fired another two bursts through the window blind fire, and then rolled over to the other side of the window. John fired another pair of bursts as well and then heard a loud bang from outside. An explosion of dust barely covered stunned Genii soldiers; they stumbled around for a moment before taking fire from the rooftops and falling dead to the ground. John winced knowing the Airburst mode on the M-25's wasn't exactly a painless way to go.

They kept up the game of suppression fire for almost a minute before John left the window and crouch walked over to where the Medic was working on Jenkins. He left Cadman another two mags which left him with two of his own. He didn't plan on staying long enough to use both.

The wound on Jenkin's chest was severe, the bullets having deformed his Kevlar vest and torn his chest apart. That he was still alive and somewhat coherent was tantamount to an act of god. "Medic! Get him ready! We need to get outta here now!"

The medic turned his head as his bloody hands worked to try and stop the bleeding. Layers of bloody combat gauze fell to the floor as he redressed the wound and kept pressure on Jenkin's chest. John couldn't help but notice how pale Jenkins was. A few bags of plasma sat next to him, obviously the Medic was in this to save him. "No can do Colonel, massive trauma to his chest. Looks like shredder rounds. I need ten minutes to stabilize him."

Jenkins was on death's door and the trembling and crying man wept incoherently. John could tell he had no clue what either of them was saying even as bullets and screams surrounded the area; John realized what he had to do. "Can we move him?" A shake of the medic's head and the cold reality hit him. They'd be able to hold the line for maybe a few more minutes, but as soon the Genii reoriented their artillery… "You've got five minutes, then we move him!"

"But sir…"

John kept his voice harsh, his emotions buried. "That's an order, Marine! We're exposed and won't last long in this position! So get him ready for transport, _now!"_

The Medic scowled, but he nodded. "Yes sir!"

Leaving the dying man and his would-be savior; John crawled back over to where Ronon and Cadman were still firing out the window. "Five minutes and we're leaving!"

Cadman turned and could barely repress her rage. "But. Jenkins. We can't move him that quick!"

John _never_ left people behind, but he wasn't a fool. Risking a full squad of Marines, Ronon, himself and what was left of Cadman's team for one man wasn't a sound strategy. _'No one left behind' _was a misnomer. It should say _'No one left behind __if we can help it__.' _"Stand down Captain! One way or another he's coming with us! Five Minutes!" _Five minutes… damned eternity under fire._

John didn't bother to see her scowl, and instead slapped Ronon's back as he moved back towards the stairs. Ronon growled back and roared as he fired his pistol out the window – a Genii taking the shot in the face snapping his neck back, instantly dead.

_**Traveler Ship "Sotero"  
Bridge**_

Katana watched in morbid curiosity. She hadn't expected the Colonel to be so bold as to actually hold the line against the superior number of Genii forces. Her scanners indicated that they were currently regrouping and preparing for a full scale attack with their long range heavy weapons. Even with a Jumper the Lanteans stood no chance against the Genii.

It was a suicide mission. Katana couldn't help but wonder why Sheppard and his team had gone into it without even questioning the logic behind it. Katana would have never done that for Atlatnis – only her own people, and even then just those she knew.

But that was the kicker – Sheppard had claimed to be loyal, and he was proving his word now. Katana toyed with the radio that the Colonel had given her for an emergency and contemplated her next move. The ship was safe, not a thing on the planet could possibly hit them or even threaten them. It would certainly be a black mark on the new alliance with Atlantis if their rescue team were simply blown to ash while Katana stood on her bridge and watched. She sighed and looked to her tactical officer. "Ready forward guns, I want pinpoint accuracy."

The technicians around her were a little surprised, but they knew how to follow orders. Now if only she could remember how to operate this damned radio.

_**Queen Harmony's Planet  
Rooftop of Garrisoned Building**_

The first of the RPG's that came in didn't surprise John as he manned a defensive position on the roof. Cadman obviously knew what she was talking about and a stray rocket could indeed take down the Jumper. It was rather the sudden shower of the RPG's that scared the living bejesus out of him. "_Shit! _Take cover!" John leapt to the ground – covering his head. He'd rarely ever wished for a helmet but _now _he'd sell his inheritance for one. The blasts rocked the building – showering him in shrapnel and fragmentation.

A few moments passed and the shower was over - John thanked that deity he prayed to earlier as the rockets seemed to be designed for armor piercing and not wide spread damage _and _that they'd somehow missed the Jumper. He looked around and saw the other Marines get up as well – only one wounded and seemingly disoriented from a close landing rocket. John instantly noted missing people and looked over the railing. Two of the Marines laying down suppressive fire by the perimeter hadn't dived for cover and the concussive blasts of the small rockets knocked one completely out, and the other over the side of the two story building and down the slanted roof.

Only two minutes of his five had gone past and they were down more people. John cursed loudly as he motioned to the Gunnery Sergeant armed with a P90 after using his AT-4. "Gunny! On my six!" he motioned to three others as they ducked and avoided the hail of bullets flying past them. "Hold 'em back, I'm going for him!"

Captain Fullerton was dazed, but seemed to power through it as he screamed orders for another defensive line. John waited for a lull in fire and scrambled down the steps of the now crumbling building, bullets pockmarked everywhere and broken rock cluttering the floor from the rocket strike. He saw Cadman and Ronon had moved and were now helping the Medic build a cheap stretcher. The pair of marines had set up their M249 bipods and rained thunderous suppression fire – John knew their barrels wouldn't keep that up for long and had to hurry.

It hurt John to think the pain Jenkins was in but he couldn't afford it now. There was another soldier down, and John wouldn't leave him behind either. Now entering the second floor, John realized that the first floor of the building had been set alight by some kind of incendiary grenades. The flames burned what little combustibles there were inside and the heat wave that hit John and his backup was enough to stagger them.

It took a few moments to clear his vision, but soon John led the two marines through an open window in the back – it was a short drop with a slant to slow their fall. A quartet of Genii approached and were surprised by the sight of John and a Marine sliding down a roof. John aimed from the hip and fired a long burst as he slid – the other Marine did the same and the crisscross of fire put two of the Genii down hard, and wounded the other two. John was already aiming for the third when another gun added to the fire. A figure holding an M9 Berretta in one hand clambered out from the side alley of the building and cut both Genii down with a hail of single shots to the torso.

"_Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!"_ Corporal Grant screamed as he emptied his clip into the falling Genii – they hadn't even had a chance to return fire.

"Corporal!" John yelled as he hit the ground. "The hell have you been?"

Grant had a wild look in his eyes – John saw the bloody sling his left arm was in and the lack of equipment on his vest. He'd obviously been fighting hard. "Colonel?" He took a few moments and then started laughing. Obviously he'd become a little delirious from the fighting. "Ha ha ha! Yes! Let's get the hell out of here!"

John wanted nothing else, but he now had two people to bring back upstairs. "We're on it Corporal." John pulled his sidearm and underhand tossed it to him. "Keep calm soldier. We've got a man down and we're getting _everyone _out. Clear?"

Grant caught the pistol in one hand and used the elbow crook of his wounded arm to cock it. John winced at the sight, as it must have been extremely painful. Grant grit his teeth through it and nodded. "Clear, lead the way."

John nodded and waved the Gunny over. He'd taken the initiative and kept their backs covered as they now circled the building.

_"…ana to …eppard… you there?"_

John was caught by surprise as he neared the corner and fumbled for his radio. "This is Sheppard. Katana, that you?"

Once he let go of the button, Katana's voice came in again. _"You there, Sheppard? Come on work you stupid thing." _the sound of shaking came over the radio and John smacked his palms against his forehead at the ridiculousness.

"Damnit Katana." John hissed. _"Take your finger off the freaking button!"_

The ludicrousness almost made John laugh; if they weren't minutes from getting hammered by artillery. The gunnery sergeant snorted in contempt. "Fuck sakes, I thought the Traveler's were tech savvy."

John pressed the button again and calmly and loudly spoke. "Katana, this is Colonel Sheppard. Let. Go. Of. The. Button. To. Listen!"

John peeked around the corner, it was clear for now but those Genii wouldn't be far behind what he now understood was a fireteam. Katana responded. "_Oh that's how this works. Push to talk. You don't use two way communications?"_

"_KATANA!"_

_"Yes yes! Sheppard! I'm getting ready to give you that fire support you wanted. Where do you want it?"_

Everything suddenly shook as a detonation came from about fifty feet away and crumbled the building beside them. Stone and smoke billowed out showering them yet again. The shockwave pushed them back against the garrisoned building stunning all three soldiers. John shook it off and focused – he could see the wounded marine that had fallen from the rooftop flopping around with a broken leg ahead of them, He'd dragged himself to a cover position despite the injury. "All around us! Take that artillery out _now now now__!"_

It only took a few moments, but upon reaching the downed marine who was trying to crawl back into the building, sonic booms were heard above as the Traveler Particle Cannons rained red fire down from space. _"That meet your idea of Fire Support?"_

The particle cannon shots left steam trails as they burned through the clouds above, each hit shook the ground from the supersonic hits. A few more shells landed nearby, but it was quickly overshadowed by the red death from above. The sound of orbital fire burning the clouds filled John with awe. John waited nearly a minute as he looked around at the falling red bolts. No more artillery shells came in, and the sound of weapons fire had died down to a few scattered shots. He could taste blood on his lips, his fingers trembled and his leg ached as if he'd twisted something. All three soldiers around him were quiet and watched him.

"Katana… thank you. _Thank you."_

* * *

It wasn't long till they had entered the building again, and while still under sporadic fire, the battle line had been mostly erased and the situation was acceptably tense. The Genii had fled when the particle cannon fire began to rain.

John went over to where the Medic was still working on Jenkins, now assisted by Cadman while Ronon. Moving beside the medic, John noted that Jenkins didn't look nearly as bad as he did before. His breathing had improved and he wasn't shaking or weeping anymore. John put a hand on the medic's shoulder and muttered softly. "How long to stabilize him?"

The medic turned and just as softly replied. "We can move him now, but I'd prefer a bit more time."

John nodded in agreement. "Take it. I'll get the Jumper ready."

The battle was over, and several men were wounded, John had done what he came here to do. No one else from the expedition would die needlessly.

_**Pegasus Planet (?)  
Dr. Rodney McKay**_

"Incoming fire! Fall back!"

Sheppard's voice was drowned out by the sounds of the Wraith Cruiser's cannons up ahead. It was laying down thunderous suppressive fire and even as the Colonel fired the missile launcher on his shoulder, it only put a small dent in the massive ship above. "Sheppard! Come on! We need to get to the gate!"

Rodney watched as Ronon lugged a broken Lorne on his shoulders, the major having been on a rock face when the initial blasts hit and getting badly wounded in the ensuing rockslide. Both teams had wounded and Rodney was torn between wanting to help Dr. Keller with them and helping to stonewall the Wraith advance.

Their jumper was the next target, and Rodney watched in horror as 3 Airmen and Marines who were there to help with lugging supplies for trade were explosively ejected from the aft hatch, their bodies burning and lungs shrieking.

Rodney was a scientist dammit, he was never meant to be in the thick of it in a war. Ever since coming to Atlantis, he'd broadened his horizons, but he never wanted to see people dying. No matter how many times he could have wished people away he _never_ wanted anyone to die, _he didn't want to die._

Deciding, he went over to Dr. Keller and helped her lift a wounded and crying marine who was missing the bottom of his left leg. The stump was bandaged now even as the marine howled in agony. "Doctor! Can't you give him some morphine or something?"

Keller looked back at him as they lifted the stretcher he was on and shook her head. "I'm all out! There's just…"

A blast ahead of them knocked both them and the critically injured man they carried down and to the ground. The Wraith Cruiser was approaching with impunity despite the various missiles that rose up from fighting Marines.

Rodney was dazed and confused now, the blast had sprayed him down with dirt and he could feel the cuts and bruises all over his body… and worst of all… he felt like this was finally it. He was going to die today and so were all his friends.

How had it come to this? Desperately trying to fall back to the gate where safety and Atlantis lay in wait… Only about sixty feet away… it was within reach…

* * *

Talia had taken to watching Dr. McKay during his more harrowing ordeals at the hand of Oberoth. The battle against the Wraith was going well and she estimated no more than four months for the majority of their feeding grounds to be destroyed. Once that was dealt with, they would begin the long process of tracking the Wraith down and destroying them individually to wherever they fled.

The biggest concern was Atlantis. The city of their creators. It had left the main gate grid and reports indicated that the usurpers were still active within its shields. Not only that, but the Wraith had also managed to steal five ZPMs during their near successful alliance with the Humans against the Asurans. There had been no other word of the 'Traveler' humans with the makeshift vessels.

Overall though, Oberoth was right to be so calm as to take the time to personally oversee Dr. McKay's 'interrogation'. Certainly Talia could see that it was having the desired effect and the surprisingly strong human was beginning to crack.

Oberoth finished the program he was currently running, a rendition of a lone survivor scenario that left the Doctor barely alive after a terrible battle surrounded by all his dead comrades. Certainly it was a terrible ordeal indeed as the instant Oberoth released his hand, the Doctor crumpled to the floor amidst sobs and whines of sorrow.

Niam had once spoken to her of emotion. The long gone brother had wondered if such a thing were part of what is known as a soul to the humans. Talia recognized his words instantly as that of talk of ascension… but was unwilling to present that information to Oberoth.

Now she had a unique perspective, and she felt the desire to know what Dr McKay was feeling. Not out of some desire to ascend, but more so to give something to complement the wrath she constantly felt within her. Oberoth left without a word, deciding to give the Doctor a rest period for his mind to recover from the shock of hours of simulation.

Talia knelt by the weeping doctor; his hair was greasy and disgusting. The patch of it growing beside his mouth made her wonder exactly how dirty these creatures could really be. But she ignored the hygienic problem and with just a moment's hesitation, began to probe Rodney's mind.

It was interesting to say the least. The man was still convinced that none of what was happening to him was real, but now he wasn't sure anything really was anymore. His brain chemistry was strange as well, the new links and connections his neurons created were… confusing. Almost as if his brain were adapting to become a peer to peer network rather than a random mush of electricity. It would only last so long, and once that time came his full memory and knowledge would be accessed.

Talia let go, suddenly awash with the same feelings Dr McKay had. The sensations were so, _different._ Almost as if she were tasting some taboo fruit in a mystical garden. She instantly wanted more, to understand what the Doctor was going though. But sensing Oberoth's return, she quickly pushed those _feelings_ aside and faced off with her leader. "The Doctor is weakening. I do not expect more than a few weeks at most until his will erodes."

Oberoth nodded, and waved for Talia to follow. "I would prefer sooner, but I cannot push any harder. His body will not last the strain and we must have the information in his memory."

Talia stepped in line and followed. Probably a status report on recent strikes against Wraith Feeding Worlds or engagements with the Wraith, all rather boring really. What she wanted to know was about Atlantis… and how they might possibly be feeling about the events of the battle.

* * *

Rodney woke up and he wondered how long he'd been lying here. His head ached terribly and his empty stomach grumbled.

Pain was something that Rodney had always hated. His team usually tried to keep it away from him, but time and time again he'd end up getting hurt one way or another.

It took a few seconds for him to realize what was happening, he was in the Atlantis infirmary. Carson was there… _wait… what? _"Carson? But… how?"

The Scottish doctor shushed him and pushed him back down onto the bed. "Whoa there Rodney… calm down. It's been a tough few days on you and I think you'll be better off just resting."

Rodney couldn't tell what was real anymore, was this just a dream? It had to be. Carson was dead - long dead and… "What? Tough few days? Where am I? Where's my team? Where's Sam? And Doctor Keller?"

Carson shushed him again… only this time he looked a little more concerned… "Rodney… who's Sam?"

"Sam! Sam Carter! Colonel Samantha Carter! She's in charge of Atlantis!"

From the side, a voice came through… another voice he thought he'd never hear again. "I should hope not! _Lieutenant_ Colonel Carter is fighting the Ori in the Milky Way, and as much as I may want her to come and join us, she's needed there."

Rodney turned in his bed and stared at the dead woman in front of him. "El-_Elizabeth!? But, but how!? You're both dead!"_

Elizabeth and Carson looked at each other and sighed. Carson was the first to speak though. "We, we know Rodney. That hasn't happened yet."

Now Rodney was purely confused. What the _hell_ was going on!? "What?! But, that doesn't make sense! This isn't real. This can't be real!"

Elizabeth sighed, and Rodney could see what looked like depression in her expression. "Actually it is, this is very hard for me to tell you Rodney… but you're two years in the past from your point of view."

There's too much confusion… Rodney just couldn't tell what was real, what was fake, what meant what anymore… He just wanted it all to end.

* * *

"Oberoth."

The imposing man turned from his position at the balcony and nodded. "Yes?"

Talia moved closer and bowed her head with respect. While Doctor McKay was of interest, something else had now come to her attention. "One of our Aurora groups has detected a faint particle weapon signature from a planet near them. That planet was tagged as tertiary objective due to its relatively low human population, but intensified scanning has detected some kind of revolt on the planet."

Oberoth frowned slightly. "Revolt?"

Talia nodded. "Yes, Oberoth. The battle group launched a scout craft and is observing a small human space craft that has been identified as one of the unknown craft that assaulted our home planet a month ago. It was firing on military assets on the ground. It seemed rather strange as the planet had no means with which to defend itself from such an attack."

With a moment's hesitation, Oberoth replied. "Dispatch the battlegroup to investigate. If the human craft is still in orbit, have the battlegroup attempt a capture."

Despite wanting to know Oberoth's reasoning's, Talia simply nodded. "Of course. I will relay the information now."

_**Traveler Ship "Sotero"**_

_**Bridge**_

"Take your wounded men to our infirmary. I'll have some of my crew come and give you a hand." Katana looked at John with concern. The walk up from the Cargo bay had been relieving and now he wanted just to go home. Katana motioned to her face. "_Ascended ancestors._ You look like wraith shit."

John wiped his face and his hand came away with blood, sweat and grime. He shook his head. "Well, there's an expression I'm stealing." John wanted to make sure Katana knew how much he appreciated her help. The other Travelers in the room looked at him as well as he spoke clearly – blood and dirt still staining his clothes and face. "Thank you for the help. We might have lost more of our men. As it stands we actually only lost one."

"Don't get all sentimental." Katana replied. "Wouldn't have done either of us any good me bringing you home in a bucket. Go get cleaned up. We'll be…"An alarm began to sound, and Katana turned to her helm officer. "Report!"

The helmsman, a rather serious looking traveler with a cutoff shirt called out the alarm. "We're receiving a signal from the planet Captain. Looks like a primitive two way radio transmission."

Katana looked to John and furrowed her brow. "Friends of yours?"

John stepped forward and scratched his temple. "Don't think so, what's it saying?"

Looking first for acknowledgment from Katana, the helmsman put it through the loudspeaker. "It's a little staticky, but they should be able to hear us as well."

The transmission cleared up, and a frustrated man's voice came through. "_To the ship in orbit of this planet; this is Genii commander Estrus Alwen, Why have you fired on my men?"_

John looked to Katana, she seemed caught off guard and after a moment of scowling at John, she replied. "This is Katana Labrea, I'm a Traveler, I came with Colonel Sheppard of the Atlantis Expedit…"

"_Atlantis! You fire on us in defense of those dogs? This is an act of war in alliance with Atlantis Traveler; it is not wise to make an enemy of the Genii…"_

John couldn't help but notice the same inflection Cowen used that one time, and motioned to Katana to let him speak. She sighed softly and nodded. "Go ahead."

"Alwen." The man continued his speech. John raised his voice in reply. "_Alwen_, this is Colonel John Sheppard. Act of war? I should be the one asking that. Why did your men open fire on my team with heavy weapons and platoons worth of men?"

"_I have nothing to explain to you. We are here as allied support of the new provisional government. Your ancestral flying weapons will only serve to slow us down in reaching the…"_

"Drone weapons?" John interrupted, seeing a flaw in his logic. "Alwen, we never attacked you. You shot at us first and we defended ourselves. We don't even have drone weapons down there!"

"_Do not lie to me Colonel, I lost an entire platoon to those demonic buzzing hacksaws!"_

John didn't bother to reply as he looked to Katana again. "Hey, can you do a scan of the planet for ancient drone weapons?"

Katana blinked, but seeing John was serious she nodded to her operations officer. "Okay. Do it."

A few moments passed, and the console beeped with an alarm. "Captain, we've got dozens of small signals coming from the planet surface. All coming from the secondary encampment in the forest."

Before Katana could really reply, a sudden shake through the ship got everyone at full alertness. "The hell was that?"

John went to the console where the helmsman was, and his eyes widened at what he was seeing on the sensors. The helmsman straightened and began to input commands on the control panel. "_Shit shit shit!_ Three Auroras! Jumped in right on top of us!"

"Hyperdrive_!" _Katana barked – John couldn't believe how fast the Travelers reacted. Katana tapped the communicator on her wrist. "Mila! Emergency thrust now!"

A girl's voice came back with surprising cheer. "_No problem!"_

John watched as Katana's crew moved into action, and despite still having questions of what was going on down on the surface of the planet, knew that the dozens of drone weapon signatures heading towards them was just a little more important. It came as no surprise to him when the ship suddenly lurched forward knocking him back towards the bulkhead – he hoped the others on the ship were at least in a better position than he as he banged his head on the wall hard enough to daze him.

* * *

Cadman took a hold of Jenkins hand and squeezed. The Marine Medic and two Traveler women taking care of him was a nice touch she had to admit.

The Travelers had saved them. There was no other way to say it. When she saw the falling orbital strike, it was like all the times she'd watched Independence Day, only this time the Aliens were saving humanity instead of destroying it. It had bought them the time to stabilize Jenkins and make sure he'd survive to go home.

Home. Somewhere Laura missed, but not enough to want to abandon Atlantis just yet.

From behind her a familiar voice carried in the room. "Captain Cadman."

Laura turned and saluted the Colonel. "Colonel Sheppard…"

Colonel Sheppard moved in beside Laura and looked down at the unconscious Jenkins. Sheppard looked dirty and covered in blood and gods knew what else– just like she felt and probably looked. "How's the corporal doing?"

With a nod, Laura smiled. "He'll make it. The type of ammo they were using was a hollow point style with a shredder base. Really damaging to flesh and unarmored targets…" she turned to Jenkins. "Good thing Jenkins had his vest on. It broke his ribs but it didn't penetrate deeper. Without his vest he wouldn't have stood a chance."

"And Grant?"

"Stable." Laura replied. "Maybe a little section eight, but he'll live."

Colonel Sheppard sighed as he leaned on the table – one hand holding the back of his head. Cadman knew those shredder types of bullets would be great against the Wraith. "Listen Cadman. I wanted to talk about what happened down there."

The smile never left Laura's face. "I guess I should thank you."

"Sorry I-"Sheppard seemed confused for a moment but then turned to her. "Wait, _what_?"

Laura figured he was just surprised she was so happy. "The Travelers, you got them to help us. I never expected a gunship rescue from a race we've only met twice. Jenkins wouldn't have made it without them." She took a moment to prepare for her next words. "You saved us all."

Sheppard shifted around, he looked like he was holding back a headache and maybe even an upset stomach "Well, to be honest…" He looked at her. Laura could see the doubt in his eyes, but it quickly faded. "Yeah. I uh, not to sound arrogant or anything."

Laura started to laugh, and gave John a playful salute. Her eyes watered as she struggled to keep her voice steady. "Of course not, but we're alive. I don't know how but you got us out alive. Jenkin's is married and I don't doubt his wife'll want to thank you."

"We didn't save Hester…" John added softly.

Laura lost her smile, and after checking a sob by breathing heavily she fished out his dog tag that she'd taken from the body. His last words rang with her and she didn't think they'd leave for a long time. "I uh, I know it's not official yet or anything. But I was hoping you could help me out with something."

"Yeah, sure thing. What is it?"

Holding up the broken dog tag, Laura gulped softly. "Hester wanted to be a Marine."

Colonel Sheppard understood the implication. He accepted the tag and looked at it with a long face. "Guess we'll have to talk to Carter about that. I don't think it should be a problem though."

Again, Laura smiled. Even if today wasn't exactly a good day, it wasn't the worst she'd ever had.

**January 23rd**

_**Atlantis, Colonel Carter's Office**_

Sam's voice was incredulous. The story they'd brought back to her in the middle of the twilight was unbelievable. "The _Genii?"_

John nodded, and to his side Cadman nodded a bit more slowly as she replied. "Yes, ma'am. We had met with the current leaders of the planet; three sisters who were vying for the monarchy. The youngest, little brat named Harmony didn't want to listen to us. The other two were a little more receiving, but the next thing we knew the Genii start backing one of the two older sisters."

"So a civil war?"

Cadman nodded to Sam again. "Looks that way, ma'am. I'm guessing the Genii had a long term investment since they had heavy weapons and even armored vehicles."

John sighed and Sam could see John reliving it in his mind. "Looked like an old World War Two Soviet tank. I remember one of my high school shop teachers telling me we could build one of those in our garage but I never believed him till today."

It was incredible; Sam couldn't believe that the Genii would be so willing to make such a forward and aggressive move. As far as she knew, the Genii were a more subtle and infiltrative military force. To go so far as to actually build armored vehicles was intense. "Yeah, I heard that too. So what happened before you called us?"

"Ma-am, once we realized what was going to happen, we fell back towards the gate. Before we could get there the fighting started. As far as we could tell they fired first with artillery towards the main castle where the Stargate was. We were hoping to get back before all hell broke loose."

Sam furrowed her brow. "So, you might not have been the target."

A scoff left the Captain's lips. "No offence Colonel, but when an artillery shell lands twenty feet in front of us, yeah, I think we were the target. And as if that wasn't bad enough, when we took cover in the DHD room, they sent in ground forces even under the cover of their own fire."

John nodded and agreed with the Captain. "I'm not surprised. When we landed they had an armored infantry platoon attacking. I guess they don't have much experience with armored vehicles and explosive shells. They were using it as mobile cover. We took it out and that broke most of their attack. We were able to hold them off with no further casualties, though we do have some wounded."

Sam shrugged and rubbed her chin. "That's a relief to hear. So after your distress call…"

Cadman gulped; Sam could tell she didn't like having to report this. "We, we were trapped in the room. I had Sergeant Hester blow us a hole through the wall and covered us as we got out. Once he did the Genii _really_ started dropping bombs and one landed a little too close to him. Corporal Grant took a bullet in his left arm and I got a little scorched by a shell myself. We fell back into the forest but found more troops there. In the end we had to take cover in the city. We lost Hester there. He was too wounded."

John made a motion with his hand and took control of the conversation. "We, I mean, Captain Cadman has a request that I'll be pushing through later. We can discuss that after."

Sam saw how both the Captain and Colonel before her were bothered by what had happened. She noticed the cuts on each of their faces even though they'd cleaned up. Sam pushed forward to try and get this debriefing done. "Alright, so once you lost Hester, where'd you go?"

Cadman's eyes moved to the side. Sam could see her nearing the thousand yard stare – not to mention the red eyes and swaying. Sleep deprivation was a leading cause of hospitalization nowadays on Atlantis. "The Genii started hunting us, it wasn't long before they found us and we had to shoot our way through the streets. I found a building that would give us good cover and we headed there. Two separate squads of Genii troops found us. We took out the first relatively easily since they weren't expecting a fight, but on the second, Jenkins took fire. I treated him what I could but if Colonel Sheppard hadn't shown up..."

Sam nodded and felt empathy for the Captain. It wasn't even her fourth mission with that team and already they were tainted with death. "I think that's enough, Captain. Take the next two days off and take care of your team. I'm sure Colonel Sheppard can handle the rest of the debriefing."

Cadman smiled, the still dirty cheeks almost getting wet with tears of relief. "Thank you ma'am, and I will have a written report for you as soon as possible."

It was reassuring to know that the Captain hadn't broken, and Sam nodded in thanks. "Dismissed, Captain."

Cadman nodded to them both and excused herself. Sam noticed how John moved with lethargy – he desperately needed sleep and maybe even a trip to the sauna. His voice was somber. "It was close, without Katana's help we probably wouldn't have made it out. Not a damned one of us."

Sam sat down and sighed. "Six wounded, two critically. One KIA. It could have been a lot worse."

They looked at each other and the subliminal communication was there. John's relief at having done what he could showed in his exhausted eyes and relaxed posture. Sam wondered how he didn't pass out as he sat on her office sofa.

John was the first to break the silence. "Once we found the team, we had to hold the line until Jenkins was stabilized. It wasn't looking good because well, the ship's Captain, Katana, she wasn't really all that happy with the idea of allying with us. We uh, we argued a bit but I guess I must have convinced her." He quieted and sighed with his eyes close. "We could have picked up Cadman and Grant. Jenkins was too far gone for a quick evac. I put them all at risk by staying."

Sam pursed her lips and let the moment pass. She spoke quietly as well. "You calculated and it paid off. Leaders have to make hard decisions and gamble with people's lives." She shook her head. "It never gets easy. Nor should it."

"We owe the Travelers – big time."

"Guess we do owe them one." Sam admitted. "I don't think we'll have to wait long to pay up. What happened when you left?"

John sighed, when all of a sudden an alarm began to sound. "Oh are you serious? What is that the fourth one today?"

Sam rolled her eyes; it had been a hectic few hours now to say the least. "More like tenth." She tapped her earpiece. "This is Colonel Carter. What's going on?"

Chuck's voice came back quickly. "_Ma-am, unscheduled off world activation. It's the Genii ma'am. Ladon Radim wants to speak to, well, he said Weir but I don't think he knows you're in charge."_

Sam winced, first impressions were something she was used to, but this was different. "Alright, put him through to my office."

With a nod, John showed that he was going to stay and support her. He moved in behind her and rubbed his face in exhaustion. She'd have to order him to bed at this rate.

Sam turned on the desk monitor and wasn't too surprised to see a rather irate looking man on the other end. _"Atlantis! This is Ladon Radim! I demand to speak to Dr. Weir!"_

Sam barked back in the same tone. "I am Colonel Samantha Carter, The new leader of the Atlantis Expedition. If you want to speak to someone in charge, it's me."

"_And Colonel Sheppard?"_

Sam turned to John and saw his nod. "Talk to her, Ladon."

The skinny man grunted, and continued his argumentative speech. "_Very well, I demand to know why your team on Queen Harmony's world opened fire on my relief force with ancestral weapons."_

Sam looked at John who shook his head. "Uh, Ladon is it? Our people didn't open fire. In fact they tell me it was _your_ men who opened fire first."

"_Do not play games Colonel! Whether it was you or not the planet is destroyed! The Genii have lost more men today than in the last 50 years of Wraith cullings! You have declared war with us and we will not take it sitting down!"_

Now Sam was pissed. Confused, but pissed. John took a step back to avoid any of the backsplash. "You killed one of our men before we even _began_ to defend ourselves! You have the audacity to blame an attack on us?"

"_Your lies will not sway me. We sent a relief force to offer them safety from the replicators in our bunkers. When your team offered Atlantis as a sanctuary you caused a schism! This is all __your__ fault and the Genii will never forgive you."_

John gently put a hand on Sam's shoulder in a silent move to let him speak, Sam turned and nodded gently allowing her second in command to get a word in. "It's _our_ fault your men were shelling a city of civilians? It's _our_ fault you tried to hunt down our men? It's _our _fault? Get your facts straight, _we didn't shoot first."_

"_There are none others than the Replicators who have ancestral weapons. You killed an entire diplomatic group sent to the Shrine of Larris to negotiate with those infernal devices. I will not listen to more lies. Should we meet again it will __not__ be friendly."_

The link shut off suddenly and Sam cursed out loud. "Damnit." she turned with an exasperated look to John. "Ancient weapons? What the hell is he talking about? I thought you said you never fired a single drone."

John didn't seem offended; he knew Sam had to see every possible reason. "I didn't, but I was just about to tell you, when we left the planet their battle commander radioed us and accused us of the same. We scanned the planet and yeah, someone was using drones down there."

Sam stared back at John for a moment, and knew deep down he was telling the truth. It didn't take long to figure it out in her head. "So, I'm guessing the Shrine of Larris was ancient tech down there, and we never knew it?"

With a sigh, John rubbed his face as he moved around the desk. "And we won't ever now. The Replicators showed up and, well Ladon probably wasn't kidding that the planet's been destroyed."

A wince stretched Sam's face, and she leaned on her elbow – her palm on her forehead. "So basically you're telling me that we just lost a good trade partner, as well as any refugees that might have come from that planet, declared war with the Genii _completely_ by accident and by no fault of our own, because the Shrine of Larris was some ancient tech that someone used to try and defend themselves from the Genii, and this is all besides losing another planet to the Replicators?"

"Well…basically?" John's face contorted at how ridiculous it sounded. Sam would have laughed if it weren't so ridiculously _bad_. "Yeah. But at least now we've got the Travelers on our side."

Sam groaned and dropped her head to her desk, her arms acting as a pillow. "It doesn't _pour_ when it can _hurricane."_

_**Atlantis, Radek's Lab**_

Radek had long since forgiven Rodney for all the times he yelled, screamed, whined, pouted, or any other form of communication the man used to encourage/berate his colleagues. In fact, compared to the sugar boosted insanity that was the young Traveler engineer bouncing around Rodney's old lab generally making a mess of things. "_Please, __please __careful!_ There are a lot of very sensitive and-"

"This place is so shiny. I love it." Mila had come down from the ship Colonel Sheppard had used on his rescue mission. Radek had agreed to let their main engineer take a look at their database and was shocked at a young blonde girl who knew mechanical engineering as well as he did.

"Yes yes! If you'd let me show you-"

Unfortunately, she seemed to have no real idea of personal space or privacy as she looked through everything, now messing around on Rodney's console. Radek tried to get her to stop but she just kept blocking him as she went through the engineering records. She reached the area about the prototype propulsion and said. "Ohh, look. It's just like the ancestral rings."

Radek was just about to blow a gasket and begin screaming in Czech, when he saw the information scrolling across the monitor. Indeed, it was just like a stargate. "Where did, but, how…?"

Mila tapped a few more buttons and even more information scrolled by. "Just looking in the metadata, lots of compressed info there. Look at it, it's so big."

Sitting down now, his heart beginning to beat more rapidly, Radek started to put together the math he was seeing in his head. "How… how old are you Mila?"

The young woman gave him a toothy grin beneath her oh-so-cute grease splotched face. "I'm fourteen, Next year I'm getting my own room."

As frustrated as Radek was, the information now scrolling across the screen left him beyond flabbergasted. "You-you deserve it."


	2. The Broad and Narrow Paths

**The Broad and Narrow Paths.**

"_The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them."_

_**February 16**__**th**__**, 2008**_

_**Atlantis, Hallways**_

Captain Nathaniel Parker was in the process of reconsidering his posting here on Atlantis. Certainly it had been fun ride since arriving on the Daedalus a few years ago, and even more he'd never ever thought he would be privy to seeing an entire city launch from an ocean, enter hyperspace, and go to another planet.

He'd seen wildlife that Earth Zoos would kill for, met people who were naturally generous and friendly, unlike many of those on Earth. All he really felt was missing were creature comforts like a convenience store or driving, or some specific government services like the cages that organized schools were.

So now that he lay semi-conscious on the floor, with only his boxers and t-shirt to cloth him. The first stage of wanting to leave the city of the ancients was there, and wanting to get back to somewhere he wasn't going to get jumped by a mob of kids out of the blue.

Then again…

**February 17****th****, 2008**

_**Atlantis, Colonel Carter's Office**_

"We've rounded up the assailants, Traveler security helped us out too so people know not to try this again."

Sam listened to Major Lorne as he gave his report on the assault and robbery of Captain Parker's equipment. It had been the first true assault and robbery on Atlantis in gods knew how long. "Did we get all his stuff back?"

Lorne nodded, but then shrugged a bit. "Yeah, his M9 was just dumped in a flower pot. Guess they didn't want to actually hurt anyone. We got the people who took his clothes and armor. Other then that well… couldn't find his canteen or MRE's. Couldn't find his 499 either."

"Pardon?"

"Oh, sorry… " Lorne shook his head and groaned in exhaustion. "His knife. Had to order a new one for him and it was hell to find the model number. Didn't realize it was something _made _for us."

Sam rolled her eyes and looked away. She took a few seconds to look at the people milling about the gate room and control room – there was an air of urgency about them. "So did they give you a reason?" Before Lorne could answer, Sam held a hand up. "Wait, I can guess." Dejection set upon her, and she realized what she had to do. "They're really not making it easy for us to offer them aid. If this leaks to the IOA…"

Lorne instantly perked up, his expression a little more pleasant. "Well there is good news there. I only used guys I trust and Parker'll keep quiet. Wouldn't be good for his reputation if it leaked that a bunch of kids ambushed him and left him half naked on the floor."

Sam allowed just a momentary smirk before getting professional again. "So he'll be alright?"

Lorne fought a smirk as well and nodded. "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure he'll be wanting to head back to Earth soon." His smirk devolved into a half scowl. Sam heard him curse softly under his breath. "That'll be the fourth experienced Captain I've lost. I don't think we have any replacements from the SGC anytime soon either."

Sam blew the stray strands of blond hair out of the way of her face. She'd kept her hair longer since coming to Atlantis and now she didn't even feel like getting a trim. "Don't know, I'm still waiting on the SGC's scheduled dial in. in fact…" Right on cue, the Stargate activation alarm began to ring. "There they are now." A worried smile creased her face, each subsequent report from the SGC and IOA just got worse and worse. "So what did you do with the assailants?"

"What could I do?" Lorne shrugged and chuckled at the situation. "They're kids. Jesus, the youngest one was eight, barely tall enough to reach my head and as you know I'm not the most vertically gifted person."

Sam winced, Lorne had been spending _far_ too much time with Sheppard and it plainly rubbed off on him. "Well, we can't just let them off with a warning."

"Oh no." Lorne raised a hand to reassure her. "I restricted them to quarters with their parents, or lacking parents, willing guardians."

It seemed the best reply to the offense, and now Sam knew the information from the SGC was flooding in. An E-Mail from the IOA popped up on her tablet. "I guess that's the best we can do. Make sure to include the Travelers in your new security procedures. This _is_ a new planet and I want to start fresh, more of them coming every day and if we're going to work together I want them to trust us."

Nodding his head, Major Lorne got up from the seat across Sam's desk. "No problem. They're actually not all that bad once you get past the whole gravity sickness, but Keller's helping them out with that so we should be fine."

"Alright. Keep me updated. Dismissed Major." Sam watched Lorne give her a quick salute before leaving the room. She raised her tablet to her face and opened up the pack of e-mails she'd received. More than a few gave her pause, but one in particular froze her as she read it.

_**Atlantis, Radek's Lab**_

"Finally get to play with a big gun, huh?"

John fought his wince, he really did, but there was no way in _hell_ he was going to let Larrin get away that. The last few weeks had been busy after the move and there weren't many chances to relax. Sure there was the odd moment where he could try and watch a movie or relax with his golf clubs, but they were few and far between, and everyone else was always busy. His injuries had healed, and Doctor Keller had him on light duties. John stared back at Larrin and drew the Traveler Magnum. He twirled it before holstering it again. "Skill beats size."

Her look of sultry surprise was interrupted by Radek and Mila as they worked on the ancient computer system. He'd come down here to learn more about the drive Mila had mentioned to him. But Larrin's presence made it a sparring match.

Mila was having none of it and called them out. "Would you two just dock a shuttle already? I'm trying to listen to Raddy Boy here!"

John gave Mila a sarcastic look, while Larrin just hid a giggle. Being called out by a fourteen year old evidently wasn't a big thing in Traveler culture. He looked at Radek who himself looked amused. "Oh Raddy Boy? Make a friend Dr. Z?"

Radek lost his smile and started back with a grimace. Larrin sighed softly and chuckled. "Thank you Doctor Zelenka. I'm sure Mila will be more than happy to work with you. As for any 'docking'." She turned to John and gave him a more than just friendly smile. "I think we'll need a little more time to make sure the clamps are compatible."

John kept his composure – this was no worse than the women he'd dealt with in college .He rubbed his forehead and shook his head. "I can't even reply to that. Congratulations, you've officially confused me." To his great relief, the door opened and in walked Carter – easily recognizable from her blonde hair. "Colonel. What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

He'd noticed awhile ago that she usually had a warm smile, ever since Asuras it had been rare to see it. Now for instance, she had a face full of concern. "Colonel Sheppard, Larrin."

"Colonel Carter." Larrin replied and then smacked John on the arm. "See? You love women who tell you what to do."

John turned to Sam with a pleading wince and mouthed '_help me.'_ "Story of my life, Need something Colonel?"

Sam's look of concern evolved into mild amusement, but he could tell she wasn't in the best of moods. She looked past John and noticed Mila sitting at the desk working with Radek. "Wow, how long has she been around technology?"

John mouthed a gracious _'thank you' _to Sam for changing the subject. Larrin took the bait hook line and sinker in her reply. "Long as she's lived. Grew up in the engine room of Katana's ship; her parents were killed in a Wraith raid and Katana's taken care of her since. She's a tough kid though… one of our best engineers."

* * *

Sam couldn't help but feel a little camaraderie as she looked at Mila. When she was her age, she was the brainiac who had dismantled her stereo along with a few other electronics and built a police scanner. Of course that was nothing compared to the hyperdrives Mila worked on.

Pushing those thought aside, Sam got to her point of coming down here – being the bearer of bad news was her least favorite part of her job description. John's ability to just _be funny_ was the last thing she needed. "Yes well, I'm actually here to steal Colonel Sheppard for a bit."

With a snort, Larrin softly slapped John on the back. "And good riddance, can't ever get rid of him on my own."

John mouthed another '_thank you'_ to Sam, but then seemed to catch on that something serious was going on. He nodded to both Larrin and Mila, and repressed another snort as Radek rubbed the bridge of his nose. Sam felt for Radek but at least Mila's bounciness was better than wasting away.

Now out in the hallway, Sam led him to a more private corner and spoke softly. "John, I uh, I'm not too sure how to put this-"

"Whoa now." John started as he raised his hands in defense. "I won't deny she's attractive, but don't think I'm going to be inappropriate. First off, I hardly know her beyond our jobs, and second, she's got a habit of beating me and I'm not looking forward to a round three."

"_Oh Lord." _Sam mumbled as she covered her face. That was the _last _thing on her mind. "That's reassuring, somewhat. But that's not what I needed to talk to you about."

John cocked his head, noting how serious she was getting and narrowed his eyes. "It's not the IOA is it? They haven't called us back have they?"

Frustration began to set in, John was being _way _too observant. "Well yes and no. We've been recalled for a mission statement briefing, but…" Seeing that John was ready with another statement, she decided to get it over with. "…it's about you, John. I just got the news. Your father had a massive heart attack last night." John instantly became impassive. The shock barely registering, "I'm sorry John, he's passed away."

_A__**tlantis, John's Quarters**_

John sat on the edge of his bed and traced the seams of his leather armband. So many people had different opinions on why he wore it. Some assumed he had a scar, others figured his wrist just needed some support from having to carry a P90 all the time. Still others were convinced it had some special meaning about his childhood. Just another closely guarded secret of his life.

"_Hey."_

John looked up and saw Ronon standing at his door. The Satedan was dressed in his typical leather clothing and looked sympathetic. "Hey."

"Heard about your dad."

John nodded, and he cleverly played off his admiring of the high quality leather band. "Yeah, heading back for a few days." He looked up at Ronon and knew what he wanted to say. It was strange to know someone that well. "It's okay Ronon. I'll be okay on my own."

Ronon shook his head, but sighed heavily. "Teyla's got me helping her with the refugees, otherwise I wouldn't give you a choice."

A smirk crossed his lips, and he knew that it was the right thing. Teyla had been having a very hard time and John made sure either he or Ronon was with her to give their support. Major Lorne had surprisingly been a great help as well and he appreciated it. "Good to know." he looked up and snorted. "Besides, I'll have Carter with me. Who better to keep me out of trouble then my boss?"

Ronon growled out his reply and left quietly. John needed some time alone and it was good to see Ronon understood. Truth be told John wanted Ronon to come with him, not only for the support, but there was so much on Earth that he wanted the Satedan to experience. Ferris Wheels for instance.

_**Asuras, Main Research Facility**_

"_Why are you doing this?"_

Talia asked herself the same question. This was strictly a moment of curiosity… seeing Dr McKay looking up at her with his greasy skin and parched mouth. He looked so pathetic and vulnerable. "You threaten our existence. That is why we do this."

His voice was weak, almost too weak to even hear. "_Please… stop…"_

Pleading? Did the Doctor not understand that as machines a thing such as mercy simply did not exist? "Why?"

The man began to sob, he'd just gone through another simulation that showed him back on his home planet where the Wraith had found it. The devastation was unyielding, and Oberoth's inclusion of his sister's offspring was especially effective in creating the needed brain chemistry changes in the Doctor's mind. "_It hurts… I…"_

He didn't finish the sentence. Just trailed off and mumbled. Talia continued to watch in silence.

_**February 17**__**th**__**, 2008, Early Morning **_

_**Stargate Command, Hallway outside Gateroom.**_

Sam wasn't sure what to think as she laughed at Vala's pigtails flying around as the former Goa'uld host came running at her. She'd been on Earth for about thirty seconds before being ambushed in the hallway to the locker rooms. "Samantha!"

It was with a hearty chuckle that Sam braced herself to catch Vala as she took her in a warm embrace. "Vala! It's good to see you again."

Vala picked up Sam and gave her a huge hug before setting her down. Behind Vala, the others of her former team were waiting for the cutesy attack to finish. Cameron Mitchell laughed and pulled Vala back from her shoulders. "Oh come on Vala, Sam's a big girl now, Full Bird and all!"

Sam couldn't resist and smiled at her old friend and co-leader of SG-1. "Hey Cam. Any new pant stories?"

Cam got a little defensive and tugged softly on his belt buckle. "Well, haven't lost these yet."

One more person stood there with his genuine smile and a smooth face to Sam's delight. "Hey Sam, good to see you back home, even if it's only for a few days."

Sam didn't hesitate and moved forward to take Daniel Jackson into a hug. "Daniel." No more words needed to be said. They both knew they loved each other like brother and sister. Sam turned to them and laughed softly. "I'm guessing Teal'c is on Dakara?"

Cameron nodded and hitched his finger over his shoulder. "We actually just got back from Chulak, Some former Ori were a little too convinced when some magician started making flames appear. We left Rak'nor a message and he said he'd get it to Teal'c. We've got to leave tomorrow anyway for a delegation thingy."

"Delegation thingy?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

Daniel sighed and explained. "A proposal for more widespread education about technology for the Jaffa. We're representing Earth."

With a nod picked up her bag and draped the strap over her shoulder, Sam nodded and began to walk towards the locker room at the SGC. "Sounds productive. Hopefully Teal'c can get here before I leave. I'm expected in Washington in two days and I'm not sure how long they want me to stay."

Vala clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Oh that new Mr. Coolidge fellow's a real jerk. Can you believe he called _me_ Honey?"

Daniel shrugged and took a few steps faster to put Sam between him and Vala. "Oh I'm still not sure he's not _wrong. _not that he's right mind you."

Both Sam and Vala gave him less than pleased glares, but Sam couldn't help but smile at Daniel's 'innocent' expression. Daniel and Vala had their ups and downs, but at the heart of it they were still great friends.

Her former team made no mention of any of the terrible things going on in Pegasus, even as they joked around about old times, Sam's only bringing a single duffel, speculations on how stupid the IOA's argument was going to be. Sam only paid half attention, as she was instead curious about everything else going on.

_**Stargate Command, Locker Room**_

John sighed as he switched clothes into his civilian suit. It wasn't often he got to wear this civilian clothing and he recalled people telling him he looked good in it. He checked his appearance in the mirror and sighed again. He'd been dreading this day for a long time, something that very few people could understand simply because they didn't have all the facts.

"Nice suit, I always suspsected you could clean up nicely."

John smirked as he turned and faced the voice. Sam stood at the doorway in her BDU's with a bag over her shoulder. It had been awhile since Sam had joked around and it felt nice to have that level of trust with his commanding officer. Then again the SGC really needed locker rooms with doors. "Thanks. I'm not to fond of it to be honest but I know it looks good."

Sam moved closer and admired the suit. John wondered why she felt so comfortable coming into the men's change room. She felt the material and then furrowed her brow. "Is that Armani?"

"Yep." John replied. "I've had it forever, surprised it still fits." She brushed some lint off his shoulder and gave it a squeeze of support. John could see she wanted to give him sympathy but couldn't really find the words. "It's okay Sam. I'm okay, really. The wake is today and I'll be ready for tomorrow's briefing with the IOA."

"Thank you, but actually I was wondering if you wanted some company."

It wasn't at all what John was expecting, and he froze in the middle of looping his tie around his neck. "Uhh…"

Sam patted his shoulder and sighed. "Look, John. We're not expected in Washington until tomorrow. SG-1's out on a mission and there's a ton I could do in the meantime. To be honest, I know you don't want to go alone. I'm here and well, I really do care that you're okay."

It was the truth, and John for a moment wished that Ronon had been able to join him. He turned to Sam, taking extra care to make sure his face was collected. "Thanks Sam…" In his mind he knew he should call her by the honorific, but they just had such an easy going relationship due to the attitudes on Atlantis. The trust she put in him made him feel better about everything.

Sam just nodded. "No problem..."

_**Sheppard Ranch, Massachusetts**_

The large property John drove them up to was impressive. Sam knew that his family was from old money, but this wasn't what she'd expected. Patrick Sheppard was the founder and CEO of an energy utility company – The fact that John never spoke of it wasn't too surprising given his vocation. The house looked luxurious with white picket fences and multi-story buildings on the property. This was more a villa than a simple home or ranch – It made her wonder what made John go to the Air Force. "Wow. This is like a small town. You grew up here?"

John shrugged as he pulled the black rental Crown Victoria into the parking area at the front. A myriad of expensive cars and SUVs lined the front yard. Sam noted more than a few German Imports. "Partially. We moved around throughout the year."

Sam noted that there were a lot of people milling about now that she could see into the courtyard; more than would be expected for simple social reasons. "Lots of people. Your dad must have been pretty popular."

"If you count all the employees and foreign nationals." The scorn in his voice was muted, but not hidden.

Sam didn't mention it though and once the car was parked, she stepped out and onto the grass. She'd decided on a sensible pair of flats and was glad as this dirt was a luxurious soft – it'd feel great if she'd gone barefoot. John quickly got out as well and motioned for her to follow him.

A man who looked somewhat similar to John was at the center near a fountain talking to some guests but seeing John arrive, quickly excused himself and walked over. He wore a similar expensive suit, but Sam instantly noted the distinct sheen of it along with the equally expensive shirt and tie underneath. He also looked a fair amount younger, though not to say John looked old – A brother more than likely.

"John." The man said as he got within five feet.

John nodded back. "Dave."

"I wasn't sure you were going to make it."

Sam could see the hint of animosity between them, but she understood that in respect for their father, they were keeping it on the downlow. She wondered how she'd ever gotten to the point she was now at with her own brother Mark. John sighed and rubbed his head. "Well, I came as soon as I heard."

The tension between them was hardly recognizable – at least to someone who didn't have a sibling of their own. Sam hid her surprise that they shook hands rather than hug like she did her own brother.

Dave nodded and continued. "It's good to see you, I contacted your unit commander at Peterson but, well sometimes it's like those messages don't reach you."

Sam could feel the pain on John's face, barely expressed beyond his stony glance. "Well, the Air Force keeps me busy."

Feeling the introduction was over, Dave looked to Sam. "And you are?"

John flinched and motioned to Sam."Yeah, this is Colonel Samantha Carter." he turned and motioned with his head as he spoke. "Sam, meet Dave. My brother."

Holding out her hand, Dave took it elegantly and gave it a gentlemanly shake. "Pleasure to meet you." Sam said.

"Likewise." He raised an eyebrow. "So you two are…?" He left the question lingering – his hand motioning between the two of them.

She made an awkward shake of her head – glad that John replied almost casually. "No. She's my commanding officer. We've got business to attend to later and she's here as my guest."

Dave nodded almost pedantically. Sam could see in Dave's face this wasn't the first time he'd seen John with a different woman. "Right, I'm sure _deep space telemetry_ can really take up a lot of your time." The sarcasm was uncalled for, but Dave looked back to John and his features softened. "Anyways, I think we should talk John."

Sam listened carefully as John's reply came out just a bit more terse than he obviously meant it to. "Yeah."

"I've got to finish up with the others first." Dave motioned to the people he'd left at the fountain. "We'll talk once I'm done. Shouldn't take longer than an hour." He turned to Sam once more. "Pleasure, feel free to move about the grounds."

Dave nodded and then turned and walked back towards his guests. They greeted him with apparent warmth and left John standing alone with Sam. Sam suddenly wished for a bowie knife to cut the tension in the air.

Sam understood that John needed some time to himself but eventually might want to talk. So she took that moment to excuse herself and look around. John didn't mind and walked away slowly. Sam had only taken a minute worth of exploration, when to her surprise she found an old friend of hers from college. Her friend had joined Patrick Sheppard's company as a chemical researcher and the shock of seeing Sam Carter astrophysicist extraordinaire kept Sam busy for the time being.

* * *

John watched from the corner of his eye as Carter found herself someone to talk with and took a moment to go and view the casket that had been ornamentally placed in the solarium. Nobody was here – everyone was outside and mingling. The picture of his dad smiling on top reminded him of all those times in the past. It was sad but the bad times rang so clearly in his head despite all the good there was too.

John could still feel the armband wrapped around his wrist under this penguin suit. It was hard to admit but the thought of never seeing his father again – despite all the hardship was heartbreaking. It only lasted a few moments, as his mind came back to the here and now. Everything that was happening in the Milky Way, and then again in Pegasus… He couldn't bring himself to shed a tear.

* * *

"Figures, Dad always did want the best working for him."

Sam and blew a sigh as she took a sip of the champagne from the flute she'd grabbed from the table. They were seated on a small wooden fence watching the people go by and quietly talked. John wondered if Sam had the same issues with their social life outside of the SGC – _Deep Space Telemetry _wasn't exactly the exciting adventurous life that he actually led. He wondered how casualties were explained.

Sam chuckled and then nodded. "Catherine was one of the best chemists I'd ever known. We even offered her a job at the SGC years ago but, Well your father offered her more money."

John scoffed in a half laugh, it was well known his father was a fair employer and those that worked for him really did like him. Cruel irony to his eldest son's feelings.

"Yeah, story of my life. Money makes the world go round and Dad liked it when the world went around _him._" John looked couldn't help but notice that she looked a lot less soldierly and much more womanly in her black dress – A strong contrast to her almost sparkly blue eyes. No wonder Dave assumed they were together.

Despite the awkwardness, Sam seemed to keep their conversation flowing. "So you said you moved around a lot, where else did you live?"

John shrugged, and recalled the years gone past. "We'd move with the seasons – spent most of the summer here. Come winter and we'd go to the penthouse in Manhattan. Spring we'd go out to a mansion a few hours outside Boston."

"Sounds pretty hectic." Sam mused. "I moved around a lot too, but mostly military bases."

"Right." John winced. He'd forgotten who her _own _father had been. "General Carter. Makes sense." He sighed and shook his head. "Still couldn't wait to get out of here though."

"Oh, You mind if I ask why?" John shifted uncomfortably. Sam noticed and added. "It's okay. I don't mean to pry."

"No no…" John replied. He shook his head and took another sip of beer before setting it down on the fence behind him. "Wouldn't be much of an XO if I can't trust you with some private stuff. Long story short, let's just say my dad's idea of teenage rebellion was going to Stanford instead of Harvard."

Sam laughed out loud, and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "_Oh lord_, I'm sorry. _That _wasn't what I was expecting."

John chuckled at her reaction. It truly was a ridiculous comment. He looked up and saw off in the distance someone he thought he recognized… _nah, couldn't be her._ He looked back to Sam and kept listening.

"So he wanted you to study business?"

"Yeah. Wanted me to get my MBA and even a Law Degree." John sighed his reply, remembering how boring he found financial math to be. Not that his actual major was any less boring… but thanks to his special forces assignments, he'd been able to erase that from his CSV. He rubbed his wrist appreciatively. "Hell he had my whole life planned out by the time I was fourteen. If he'd had his way I'd be wearing Armani a lot more often."

The humor was flat, and John could tell Sam knew he was just hiding his true feelings. Thankfully she didn't pry any deeper. "Well his gain would have been Atlantis' loss."

"Thanks." John replied. Another look around, John saw Dave off to the side laughing and talking with the minister handling the wake. His smile eroded just a bit… enough for Sam to see.

"Looks like your brother is dealing with this alright."

John scoffed, and took another sip of his beer. "Yeah… that's what he does best. Deal with stuff."

"Mine does that too. Gets frustrating."

John turned again and furrowed his brow appreciatively. "Didn't know you had a brother."

"I don't see him too often anymore." Sam admitted. She played with the champagne flute in her hands. "The uh, the mountain kept me pretty busy and the…" Sam stopped dead for a moment and it was plain she was thinking. John checked his laugh at the obvious thought. How does one stealthily describe Atlantis? "The Island keeps me busy nowadays too."

"You and me both." John chuckled. It was interesting to think that Sam had been part of the SGC from the very beginning. How had that affected her life? Surely twelve years of classified work in how many? Four galaxies? He looked back into the crowd and instantly stiffened at the sight of the approaching woman. "Aw nuts."

"Excuse me?"

John got up from his seat and turned his head towards Sam. "Uh, look, sorry I didn't tell you before, but I used to be married."

Sam's look of surprise was what John expected. Though she played it off well with confusion. "What does _that _have to do with anything?"

"Because she's coming this way." John replied quickly and quietly. He turned back again and faced her.

LINEBREAK

Sam looked up after recovering from the confusion and saw a rather attractive brunette heading towards them. She got up as well and saw just how uncomfortable John looked.

The woman walked up and looked a little uncomfortable herself. "Hi John."

John shrugged and nodded. "Nancy."

After a second's hesitation, Nancy moved forward and gave John a sympathetic hug. "I'm very sorry."

A nod later, and they let go. Sam got a good look up close – _Good god, she's gorgeous. What the hell was John thinking leaving her? - _If the situation had been different she might have even felt a little defensive. John motioned to Sam with his hand. "Nancy, this is Samantha, Sam, meet Nancy."

Nancy moved forward and gave Sam a handshake. "Hi, nice to meet you." Nancy's expression changed to mild surprise. "So are you two…?

John instantly bristled and winced. Sam hid most of her grimace, but both Dave and Catherine had asked. Evidently, she was pretty close to John's _type._ "No. We work in the same base." Sam replied.

John quickly added. "She's my Commanding Officer; should have added Colonel to the introductions."

"Oh, so you're both Air Force?"

Two nods, and John took back the reins thankfully. Sam just stayed quiet and put her champagne on the fence behind her. "Yeah, so how long are you here for?"

"Just today, gotta head back to Washington so umm..."

Sam remained quiet and tolerated it. She was here for John and knew better than to get into this personal conversation. Taking a moment Nancy was distracted, Sam stealthily moved off and sat back down on the fence where she was before.

* * *

John checked his sigh of relief that Sam had backed off. This was an uncomfortable conversation and he didn't want anymore witnesses than needed. "So, you still with Homeland Security?"

Nancy perked up a bit and nodded idly. Her smile was something John could honestly say he missed. "Yeah! Yeah actually I, I just got promoted. I'm a director now."

"Oh, congrats." It ended awkwardly there, and John struggled to think of something to say. It took a few seconds but he finally plowed through. "So uh, how's Greg?"

"Grant."

John didn't even bother wincing; he simply didn't care and wanted to get out of this conversation as soon as possible. He wished he could do what Carlin often promoted and excuse himself for surgery. "Grant. Right."

"He would have come but he's trying a case in Phoenix so…"

"Oh, sounds like he's doing well." Perhaps John said it a little tactlessly, but this was the woman whom he'd sworn to be loyal to... and he had, until she said she couldn't take it anymore.

Nancy kept nodding idly. Obviously this was just as awkward for her. "Yeah he uhh… yeah he is." Another awkward moment, and Nancy then spoke with a bit more confidence. "You know, your dad was always very good to me."

"Yeah… well in _his_ mind, marrying you was probably the best thing I ever did." John meant it as he said it. It was only cruel irony that it would actually offend her.

It was obvious John's words had their intended effect, and Nancy's smile was now laced with bitterness. John had no doubt Sam could see her expression from her seat a few feet away.

Nancy nodded once more and pursed her lips – a little tic he'd noticed when she was frustrated. "Ok, well it was good to see you again John. Take care of yourself." She turned to the side and waved to Sam. "It was nice meeting you too, Colonel."

With a final look, Nancy turned and walked away. John sighed softly and turned to Sam who'd gotten u and now stood behind him. "Sorry you had to see that."

"It's okay John." She bowed her head in sympathy. "I can't imagine this is easy for you."

Blowing a heavy sigh, John nodded. "I need a stiffer drink."

"But you've got…" Sam looked back to the fence she'd just left and did a small double take. A waiter had already grabbed their half empty drinks and was walking away. "… Oh." John still remembered losing more than a few diet cokes to those people.

"Yeah." John nodded and groaned softly as he waved her along. "Welcome to _my_ life."

* * *

They'd just taken their seats at the bar and were waiting for the bartender when the young woman sidled up next to John. Sam couldn't help but wonder just how often this happened after hearing Dave and Nancy's reactions to John. Not as gorgeous as Nancy, this young woman certainly wasn't lazy in her looks. "Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard?"

John turned and furrowed his brow. "Yes?"

The young woman looked over to Sam and furrowed her brow. "Colonel Samantha Carter?"

Sam nodded and became a little worried. "Yes… I'm sorry do I know you?"

The young woman shook her head and kept her voice calm. "My name is Ava Dixon, I used to work for a man Colonel Sheppard knew, Henry Wallace."

Both USAF officers hid their surprise. But John kept his answer calm. "Sorry, don't ring a bell."

Ava leaned in slowly and lowered her voice. "Look, I realize you have to keep up appearances in public, but I don't have time to play games. Henry Wallace was the man who kidnapped your colleague, Doctor Rodney McKay, and forced him to work on a highly illegal research project involving alien technology..."

Once she said Rodney's name, John began to lean in, Sam herself was surprised and ready to _quarantine_ this woman who obviously knew way more than she should. John's quick grasp was almost brutal in its simplicity, his voice rough with anger. "_Alright now, __who the hell are you?_"

"We need to talk, but not here."

John looked over to Sam with surprised eyes. She nodded and motioned out towards the exit. Sam hated realizing that John was going to have to leave his own father's wake on account of this Ava deciding to get involved with their professional affairs.

It didn't take long for Sam to clear the exist and watch John casually drag Ava over to the front lawn where the car was parked. But just as John was heading out, Sam noticed Dave quickly move over to speak to him. John shot a desperate look to Sam and her nod told him he'd have a minute.

* * *

Now was _not_ the time. John winced and gave Ava a harsh look at what she was putting him through. He turned back to the voice and saw Dave walk up to him and look somewhat dejected. "John, I think we should probably-"

There was no time, and John needed to get out of here now. He raised his hand and tried to sound apologetic. "Look, something's come up. I'm sorry but I've got to go."

"It's Dad's _wake_." Dave said incredulously. John knew Dave had meant for the words to hurt, but Dave just didn't know the threat level.

John tried to keep calm as he explained. "I know, but this is work-related."

Dave looked over to where Sam escorted Ava into the car. His face turned into more incredulity. "Oh. What is it, top secret, national security, that sort of thing?"

John could feel his pulse rising at the tone Dave took. "Yeah, something like that."

Dave kept quite for a moment and then spoke candidly. "You know, this is so typical."

John had been ready to turn and walk away, but Dave evidently was going to fight it. "Well if you've got something to say, just say it."

Dave stood up straight and made his point clear. "Look, there's just one thing I want to know. What's your level of expectation here?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, are you gonna challenge the will?" John's eyes went wide and his mind went blank. Dave for that matter took his non-reply as one of it's own. "I have no idea what it says, of course, but I think I can guess."

John felt his chest trembling, his heart pounded and hands shook from sheer _rage. _"_That's_ what you want talk about? You want talk about _money?"_

"That's why you're here, isn't it? You've been gone a long time, John. It's not such a stretch."

John knew Patrick likely left him a sizable chunk of his empire. More than a normal person would ever need. But John wasn't a normal person anymore. He was military commander of Atlantis. He'd been fighting monsters and nightmares for the last four years, all to protect this world and his home on Atlantis. The last few months had put more strain on him that he ever thought he could take, but Dave's ignorance was the straw that finally broke his back.

John howled as he threw a punch. His knuckles connected with Dave's face sending the much less built man flying back. John could feel the adrenaline burning through his veins as he screamed. "Yeah, well you've got _nothing _to worry about!"

John turned around and stomped towards the car. He didn't care that everyone saw him. He didn't care that his knuckles had ripped open along his own brother's jaw. Carter looked shocked, but said nothing as he approached. Dave called out a moment later. "Hey!" John didn't turn back. He was done with this place. Dave's words chased him. "If you think I've got the wrong impression of you, it's not my fault! You're the one who left, remember? _I_ stayed. _I_ looked after Dad! _I_ ran the business while you went off doing God knows what!"

John got to the door and opened it. He screamed back as he got in. "Well that's just what Dad wanted wasn't it? So don't worry about your _inheritance_!"

"No, it's not John! Dad regretted what happened right up till the end, He…" John didn't hear anymore as he slammed the car door shut and turned the key. Sam sat next to him with Ava Dixon in the rear. Neither said anything as he peeled out of the front yard, his foot maybe a little heavier than it should have been.

They'd gone down almost a mile before Sam asked. "You okay?"

John _wasn't _okay. Dave had done exactly as their father had done and made decisions and assumptions for him. No input from John made any difference. "I will be."

John drove right past the speed limit and went into the boonies. They'd gotten a few miles away now before Sam pulled out the first aid kit underneath her seat. "John, this is good. Stop the car."

John hadn't even noticed the pain in his right hand from the bloody bruising. He saw that Sam wanted to stop the car to both interrogate Ava, and also get his hand some treatment. "Yeah."

Neither said anything about what happened. He was sure Sam _wanted_ to ask him, but she respected his privacy enough to wait till they were alone.

With the car now parked on the side of the interstate, John allowed Sam to bandage his hand while they talked to Ava.

Ava for that matter quickly jumped into it. "I would have come to you sooner, but you were a hard man to find, I never expected to run into you Colonel Carter."

Sam and John looked at each other momentarily, John kept his voice low. "All right, you've got our attention. What's this all about?"

Ava nodded and began to recount her tale…

_**Atlantis, Refugee Tower**_

"Alright. it looks like just a mild allergic reaction… probably to something he ate…" Jennifer patted the little boy's shoulder and handed him a small vial of pills. "Take one every four hours until the rash leaves. And if this happens again try and remember what it was that you ate okay?"

The young boy smiled and nodded. His mother sighed and gave Jennifer a hug. "Thank you Doctor… I've been so worried the past few days."

Jennifer nodded got up. Around her were dozens of people along with her staff – a rash had broken out amonst these refugees and it was better to isolate and contain it before it got worse. Jennifer motioned to Teyla and Ronon. "You should thank Ronon and Teyla here. They recognized the symptoms and called me down. Don't hesitate if something comes up okay?"

The boy swallowed and then moved forward and hugged Jennifer's leg. The boys mother laughed and said. "Thank you Doctor, Thank you so much."

Teyla moved ahead and gently pried the boy's grip free. Jennifer just stayed quiet as Ronon loomed over them all, an amused look on his face. Teyla tapped the boy in the direction of his mother. "Now now Tidus, If you insist on attaching yourself to Dr Keller's leg, she will not be able to help other young ones such as yourself."

Tidus laughed jumped back into his mother's arms all without saying a word. These refugees were a lot to handle, but Jennifer was doing alright she thought. Ronon and Teyla's assistance was utterly appreciated though as they calmed and explained to the population what was happening.

Jennifer did wonder how long could they keep this level of humanitarian effort up.

_**February 17**__**th**__**, 2008, Late Afternoon**_

_**Pentagon, Underground Parking**_

Jack heard footsteps behind him and wondered why he was still so jumpy – this was Washington after all and the parking garage of the Pentagon. He turned and was more than a little surprised to see Carter, Colonel Sheppard, and a young brunette with them. They were all dressed up as if going out. He held the wireless remote to his car and didn't click it as he looked at Carter. "Well if this were social we'd be in my office, and I'd be dead already if you were trying to kill me. Read too many spy novels Carter? What's with the double oh seven getup?"

Carter laughed nervously while Sheppard just shrugged and kept back with the brunette. They both looked nervous as hell while Carter on the other hand approached him. "Ha, good to see you too, Sir. It's… well it's complicated, sir."

Jack leaned against his car and crossed his arms. Only now did he notice that Sheppard's hand was bandaged. Where the _hell _had they come from? "Do tell. I love adventure stories."

Carter blew a sigh and began. "Well, that woman's name is Ava Dixon, and she's brought to our attention a problem that we need to look at right away."

* * *

"_Say what?" _General O'Neill's voice hit an octave higher. Sam had hoped he'd be willing to assist them with this ridiculous replicator problem Henry Wallace had left them. Granted Homeworld Security _was _his actual job so the news of this meant his people weren't doing _their _jobs.

Sam pursed her lips and spoke quietly. O'Neill looked more than a little frazzled. "We're pretty surprised too, sir. From what Ms. Dixon tells us, Dr. Poole is back at the lab trying to figure out a way of recalling the Replicator before anyone gets hurt."

John had joined them quietly during the explanation to O'Neill. He'd kept an eye on Ava despite everything and spoke while watching her. "We're gonna need to deal with this fast, sir. We might even have to postpone the meeting with the IOA tomorrow."

With a nod, Sam agreed. "The replicator is…"

_"Are you two kidding?" _O'Neill spat out. Sam was surprised at how intense he spoke. _"_If the IOA hears about this, _Wham_! There goes any chance of you convincing them to evac Pegasus."

"What?" Sam thought about it for a second. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything." O'Neill replied. "You think the IOA is going to care that this replicator doesn't know anything outside of Washington? They'll use it as proof of the danger Replicators pose to this planet."

"All the more reason for us to track it down and get rid of it." John offered.

"No, no no no. You two _so _can't be involved in this." O'Neill said as he ran his hand through his hair.

Sam hadn't seen this kind of reaction from O'Neill _ever. _Maybe once when he kept avoiding an interview. "With all due respect sir, we _are_ the best equipped to deal with it."

"Don't I know it?" O'Neill cursed under his breath and rubbed his face in frustration. "Who knows about this?"

John shrugged and looked to Sam. He replied quietly. "Just Colonel Carter and myself, sir. She recommended we come to you since Homeworld Security _is_ your branch."

With a nod, Sam winced just slightly as she spoke. "We would have reported it officially, but I thought it might be better to deal with it quietly."

O'Neill scoffed and rubbed his hands together. "I never get good news anymore you know? Just once…" Sam bowed her head and bit her lip to keep from laughing. O'Neill's little wittisms always did bring a smile to her face. "Give me the girl. I'll make a few discrete calls. We'll deal with the replicator and hopefully the IOA will never find out."

John sighed and nodded. "Sir, all due respect, but what difference does a human built replicator have to do with their decision on Pegasus?"

Sam looked at O'Neill and already knew the answer. "The IOA loves to make connections between completely separate things. It works from a financial and political sense, but issues like these get compounded."

O'Neill tapped his temple at John. "Come on Sheppard, _think._ If a human built replicator can cause this much panic, how much would a _real_ replicator cause if they came to Earth? The IOA covers _all_ their bases and even the bleachers. They hear about this and they'll _never_ allow you to send people through for the risk of a single replicator sneaking in."

John shook his head and looked away. Sam understood his problem with the issue but knew there was no better option. Thankfully, John replied. "…I understand. So what should we do now?"

"Nothing. You two just go to your hotel, get ready for the meeting tomorrow, and leave this to me. I've still got friends who can keep quiet so any luck and you'll never hear about this again."

It seemed the only logical course to take, and Sam looked to John. "Go bring Ava would you?"

With a nod, John left the two former teammates alone. Sam looked at Jack wondering what to say "I…"

"Carter…" O'Neill held his hand up. "You need to focus on your hearing. I'm going to try and be there but if I can't then you know I'm busy covering this. You can't afford to let this get out any further."

Sam gulped, and knew it was the truth. When had her life become a game of politics? "Thank you sir." A moment of hesitation, like all the ones before. "So umm… what's new?"

A blank stare was all O'Neill gave back. "Nothing much. New TV, Jaffa sweet cakes. "He kept quiet a moment. Normally they'd be joking and laughing about anything going on – this just felt awkward. "…you?"

"Well, nothing really. You know all about Atlantis."

"The dress?"

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Pardon?"

O'Neill used his fingers to motion up her black dress. He made no apology to the full body stare he gave her. "The dress? Sheppard's fancy suit? His _bloody_ _hand?_"

Sam winced as she realized they hadn't explained anything but Ava's problem. She snorted and nodded. "Oh, yes. I'm not sure if you got the brief or not, but John's dad just died. Ava found us at the wake."

"Ah, and you went with him?"

Sam nodded, not seeing any incredulity in O'Neill's eyes or voice, he seemed to be just honestly curious. "Well, he's my XO, and he needed a friend."

"Good. Always believed you'd be a great leader." O'Neill replied – his voice strong and reassuring. Sam wished they could spend more time together.

There wasn't a chance for anymore conversation as John returned with Ava Dixon in tow. "Here we are…"

O'Neill looked to Ava and half hissed. "So exactly how long have you been working on these replicators?"

Ava let an annoyed breath out of her nose before replying. "I told Colonel's Sheppard and Carter, he can't replicate. And we need to get to Dr. Poole right away."

"Right, before that though you and I are gonna go for a little drive and chat." O'Neill looked to John and Sam. "Tomorrow. If I'm not there I'll call. Don't mess this up."

Sam nodded. "Yes sir."

Without anymore words, General O'Neill took the young woman and led the way to his office. John and Sam looked at each other, and wondered if things could get any worse.

_**February 18**__**th**__**, 2008**_

_**Atlantis, Radek's Lab**_

"So it's like a giant ring but without the ring?"

The lab was more or less quiet – most of the major astrophysicists had left and gone back to Earth which left a skeleton department for Radek to run. The Travelers were great maintenance people and most of the small problems on Atlantis had been fixed quickly.

Radek had slowly been getting used to Mila's intriguing way of speaking. Katana and Larrin's insistence that she was one of the better engineers and would benefit from a mutual exchange seemed ridiculous until he stopped thinking the way he normally did. The lack of standardized terms was getting to him, but now it made more sense. "Well, look here. See the way the hyperspace generators are working together to create a stable singularity instead of the window to subspace?"

Mile looked at the screen, and scratched her head. "You mean the circle with the lines and how it's getting smaller?"

If one knew nothing of diagrams, then yes, Mila's description was more or less correct. Radek found it amazing how this young girl could know so much and yet, not have any standardized terminologies. "Uhh, correct. But that requires enormous amounts of power, much more than even our combined energy sources could create."

Mila snorted. "So we get more. Silly."

Radek rolled his eyes and pushed the plate with sandwiches over to the young girl. He'd found that peanut butter did a miraculous job silencing her. "Unfortunately it's not that easy. Here…"

The little girl _loved_ peanut butter and quickly took a voracious bite. What she did with the calories was a complete mystery to Radek… but it didn't matter. The mystery of this "Wormhole Drive" was slowly coming undone. It just had to be so ridiculously complicated that even a minute error would cause devastation.

_**February 18**__**th**__**, 2008, Early Morning**_

_**Langley AFB, Locker Room**_

"You sure you're up for this John? I mean…"

Sam watched as John worked on getting his tie straight in the locker room of Langley Air Force Base. They were expected in the IOA's HQ in 3 hours and John just couldn't get his Dress Blues to fit right. "You came with me, I'm going with you."

It was a strange sentiment, but Sam appreciated his support. "Thanks. Your hand okay?"

John flexed his fist experimentally, the stitches still hurt slightly, but Langley's medics were good at their job. "Yeah, sorry you had to see that."

John appreciated the sympathy Sam gave him. These family issues had haunted him since before Afghanistan and it was odd to get this level of understanding from a woman he'd only known a short time. This would be the second time in as many days that they'd talked about these kinds of things inside a locker room. "It's okay, I know family can be tough."

He could have left it at that. John knew Sam was giving him a way out of the conversation and he sorely wanted to take it. Except he felt that he needed her to trust him, and that meant talking about it. "Dave thought I showed up to fight him on the will."

"Sorry?" Sam seemingly hadn't expected John to talk.

"My brother Dave. He thought I showed up to fight him on my father's will."

Sam's jaw dropped a bit at the realization. Certainly that had been the last thing she would have expected. "Uhh. Shit. That's, wow, that's…"

John tried again to straighten his tie, but it had been such a long time since he'd worn his Dress Blues that it just didn't look right. He'd yanked off his tie in anger before on the ranch and now regretted it as he couldn't retie it at the right length. "Yeah, well like I said before; money makes the world go round and my family _loves_ going round."

Sam had gotten up at this point and stood beside him. "Here, Let me."

John turned and allowed her to work on the necktie as he was just about frustrated enough at the situation. He appreciated the smoothness at which she changed the subject – but still managed to help him feel a little better. "Yeah, never did like these things."

Sam carefully undid the mess of his tie work and restarted from scratch. She looped the tie around his neck and to John's surprise, did a perfect full Windsor knot. "Me neither." She added as she finished and tugged it into place.

"Thanks."

"No problem, learned when I was a kid."

John ran a finger along the tie, and then looked back to her. He wanted to say something, but found himself just not up to the task of asking about her personal life. "Time to go."

"Yeah."

_**February 18**__**th**__**, 2008, Late Morning**_

_**Washington, Financial District, Top Secret IOA HQ**_

"I'm sorry sir, Only Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard is allowed inside for this briefing."

Sam turned a surprised face to the IOA security agent at the door to the building, one of the many stone pillared buildings in the DC area. Nobody could tell that this was the center of Earth's galactic politics. The drive had been quiet and now that they approached the building it seemed like crunch time. Except now he was going in on his own. "Excuse me? Colonel Sheppard is my executive officer and…"

The guard shook his head and interrupted. "I understand that Colonel Carter, but it's not up to me. One at a time were my orders and I'm going to follow them. Sheppard first and then you."

Sam turned to John and motioned for them to move to the side quickly. Sam whispered. "John, don't fight something you can't win."

John looked back and bit his bottom lip. "You think it's that bad, huh?"

"Yes. Be careful and don't say anything to get you in trouble."

Taking a quick breath, John smacked his lips and moved forward. He brushed past the guard and entered the main hall. Sam watched with muted fear. Prisoner's Dilemma rang in her head like a gong.

"Leave it to the IOA to split the dynamic duo apart."

Sam turned to the voice and suddenly felt a lot better. "General O'Neill. It's good to see you." She stepped away from the guards and approached the staircase where O'Neill stood. "Is uhh, is what we talked about…?"

O'Neill held his hand up and his face said _'shut up'. _"Yeah, listen…" He glanced over to where the IOA security was defending the entrance to the hall where John had just entered, the giant stone pillars nearby gave the building a very official look. "You had brunch yet? There's this great little cart down the street and…"

A smile creased her lips as she realized that O'Neill was using it as an excuse to talk to her, but she didn't mind. "Sure. I had to skip breakfast."

With a smile as well, O'Neill waved Sam forward to the food cart along the street. "Skip breakfast? Madness."

_**IOA Security Council Boardroom**_

"Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard. You stand before the IOA Security Council to brief us on your version of the events of the failed attack on Asuras approximately one month ago."

The room was filled with empty seats, only the front with a large table had any people – the IOA Security Council. Richard Woolsey was one of them and was the only one to give him a nod of welcome. Mr. Coolidge had the distinct honor of being the chairman and head inquisitor.

John took a second to digest Coolidge's words. "Pardon sir? _My _version_?_"

Coolidge shifted his jaw for a few moments before replying. The rest of the council stayed quiet - John didn't doubt that they'd all asked questions but Coolidge was the one asking them. "Yes, Colonel. You witnessed the battle from the unique perspective of the Travelers. That's a whole separate issue we'd like to discuss but what I'd like from you is an explanation as to the destruction of Apollo from your perspective."

John started to think about what Sam had told him. Certainly this was a fight he couldn't possibly win, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

_**Washington, Financial District **_

"So what happened with Ms. Dixon?"

Jack remained stoic as he accepted their coffees from the vendor; it had been _interesting_ to say the least. "Well, I know you like to know everything, but I really think it's best you don't this time."

"That bad, huh?" Carter's expression went a little more depressed. O'Neill wished he could give her closure.

"Oh yeah." Jack idly considered how he was going to explain to the IOA that he'd chased down the doctor who'd made a replicator on the planet, only to find out that the young woman who'd warned them about it turned out to be one of the nanite beings herself. "The less you know the better. I've only got half an hour 'fore I need to get back to my desk and… do stuff."

A low chuckle left Carter's mouth. "I really do appreciate your help sir."

Jack sighed as he sat down across from her in the outdoor patio. It had been awhile since they'd been able to just sit and enjoy their time together. "Well apart from this _incident_, It is nice to see you again."

Carter smiled and Jack's heart melted just a little, just like it always did when he saw that smile. "It's good to see you too sir."

"So, how long are you in DC for?"

"Just till tomorrow, the uhh, _My_ base needs both of us back and well, there's a lot we need to work out there."

"Yeah I guess you do." Jack started to chuckle. "You know it's impossible to talk anywhere in this damn area? Hell my office has bugs I know are there, but if I get rid of them they just find better hiding places."

Carter's smile turned into a surprised one. "Really? You too? It's like they're always watching."

"They are." Jack surmised. He quieted and leaned in. "With everything that's happening near your _base_, you might want to avoid talking to anyone you don't trust."

"I trust you, sir. It's good to know I still have friends here." She took a sip of her coffee and added. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

Jack nodded pedantically. "Yep. That's what I do. Help you. Not that I complain or anything."

Carter sighed as if mildly ashamed. "I know, I'm sorry I'm being such a leech."

"It's my job." Jack replied. "Just so happens I like it."

"Thank you. And well since there are, _issues_ with my base right now, I was hoping to get Daniel there again as soon as possible. We've got a lot of things he'd really _appreciate_ there and well, just in case."

Jack knew Daniel had been requesting the change ever since the Ori were defeated. Atlantis was like his holy grail and he saw nothing wrong with sending him there. "I'll do what I can." Carter sighed contentedly and then took his hand on the table. He looked down and then added quietly. "Carter, l need to make this clear. I'm going to do absolutely everything I can to help you. But if the IOA asks, our _friendship_ has nothing to do with any help you get from me."

Carter let go of his hand and lost a bit of her smile. "I know, sir." She paused, examining his facial expression. How she figured it out was beyond him. "They're watching right now, aren't they?"

Jack sighed as well and nodded. "Oh yeah." He took a deep breath, and fished something out of his pocket. "You've got three minutes Carter. Once I press this button we're in the clear."

Carter looked down into Jack's hands. He knew she'd recognize it. "What? Wait, that's a… Oh my."

A subtle nod, and Jack clicked the button. He felt a very slight queasiness before shaking it off. "Ten feet of magnet produced jamming." He set it down on the tablet. "Talk, Carter."

"Sir?"

Jack got the ball rolling. "If I didn't have responsibilities here, I'd go with you and kick some ass. But I can't so I want to make sure you're alright."

Carter didn't look too surprised to hear him say it, but it was clear she wasn't expecting it. "Wow."

"Talk Carter." Jack repeated. "This is the only chance we'll get."

A moment of looking back at him, and Carter sighed. "I've been thinking of stepping down. I want to stay in Atlantis and fight till the end but…"

Jack took a moment of his own to stare back. The implications of her stepping down were numerous. "And what? Come back here? Sit behind a desk and research any old thing Mitchell brings back?"

"I've done it before." It was true; Carter had given up on life at the SGC and worked at Area 51.

For his matter, Jack understood why she'd gone back to the SGC and it wasn't just the Ori. "Would you seriously be okay leaving?"

"No, but what else am I supposed to do?" She replied. Jack understood clearly that Carter wasn't willing to abandon her post, but she also was struggling with the sacrifice it meant.

Jack had made that sacrifice a long time ago. "You've got a choice Carter. I'll support you either way but you've got to choose, and stick with it. Regrets suck." It was the same choice she'd made with the SGC, then Area 51, then Midway, then Atlantis…

"It's not that easy sir." Carter complained.

"Life never is." Jack wanted nothing but to get her out of the chaos, but it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He felt it his duty to make sure that she understood what her actions led her to, because he now understood where Pegasus was heading.

"What about us?"

"What _about_ us?" Jack kept his voice calm. She'd asked a dangerous question and now he had to make things clear - as painful as it was.

"I thought… "

"Look." Jack let out a heavy sigh. "Don't make your decision based on what I may have said or done. Whatever you choose to do, be happy about it because it'll eat away at you if you don't."

"It's not like flicking a switch." Carter hissed – Jack didn't like making her angry but there was no other option. "I can't base my decisions based solely on how it makes me feel."

"I know Carter. That's my point."

Carter sighed and shook her head. Jack hated her looking so disappointed and sullen. "I never thought I'd have to make a decision like this."

Jack nodded and took his coffee into his hands. He swished it a bit and spoke before sipping. "No one ever does."

* * *

John walked out of the IOA debriefing feeling like a soldier under fire. _Breathe John… Breathe. _His muscles were tense and his fingers tingled. The dryness in his throat desperately cried out in thirst. He needed a drink _now._

He could see Sam and General O'Neill sitting nearby – there were plenty of military personnel around but Sam's blond hair was like a beacon in the sunlight. He quickly left the front of the building and approached the pair of former teammates. John had heard a lot about the pair thorugh the gossip channels in the SGC and Atlantis - he chose to ignore it and instead base his opinions on what he could see. All he saw in front of him was a close friendship.

Sam noticed him and waved him over. "John, over here!"

John walked over and tried to keep the ire from seeping into this voice. "General, Colonel."

General O'Neill made no mention of putting him at ease, and instead looked to Sam. "I guess it's time for you to go. Be careful in there."

Sam nodded and looked to John. "How'd it go in there?"

"Well, evidently it's all my fault." John blew a sigh. "Getting Larrin and her uhh... _pals_ to join us gave me enough to stave off a discharge. They didn't want to send me back but given my particular skills." He looked at his hands and shook his head. "They're insisting on sending more marines. They're worried about Larrin and her pals as much as they like having them around."

Sam closed her eyes and took a few moments to herself. General O'Neill shook his head and sighed. "Figures. Least you got through okay."

"No offence, General." John tried to keep his voice calm. "But I'm not okay."

Sam patted him on the shoulder as she got up and nodded. "We'll talk John. I'm not going back without you." She looked at them both and then up at the building. "Wish me luck. "

John watched as Sam moved with strength towards the IOA building. He sorely needed a drink and was just about to walk away when General O'Neill spoke. "Hold it Sheppard. I'm not through with you."

John turned back and stood at attention. It was never a good thing when a General wanted to talk. "Sir?"

"I've got a little favor to ask you…" General O'Neill waved down to the table. John noticed the little doohickey sitting there that clearly didn't belong.

"Yes sir?" John sat, wondering if maybe he'd get a chance to at least grab a bottle of water.

"Before I ask." O'Neill started as he sat. "Let get some facts. What's your favorite animal?"

John raised an eyebrow – the people around them didn't seem to notice anything odd about their meeting. "Sir?"

"Come on." O'Neill tapped his watch. "I ain't got all day."

John took a moment to think before replying. "The wolf, sir."

O'Neill raised his own eyebrows in surprise. "Not exactly what I was expecting."

"Well sir…" John began, people usually had that reaction. "It's a noble creature. True it's dangerous, but it's hard to find a creature more loyal."

"Loyal to who?"

"Its pack, sir."

O'Neill nodded. "Ah, family you mean. Usually it's something like that." O'Neill leaned forward and quietly asked. "Do you know what the IOA's favorite animal is?"

"Sir?"

"The scapegoat." O'Neill replied. John wasn't sure how to react. "I'm looking at one."

John swallowed nervously – he hated how perceptive the General appeared to be. "Yeah… I got that feeling."

"Good." O'Neill leaned back and drummed his fingers on the carton of his coffee drink. "So, all your affairs in order?"

"Excuse me?" John was confused, what was O'Neill getting at?

"I'm not nearly the moron people seem to think I am." O'Neill replied harshly. "You're not coming back."

"Sir, I…"

"_Don't_ bullshit me Sheppard."

John looked back at O'Neill – it was surprisingly difficult to reply anything but the truth. "I… I haven't decided yet."

"I've kept an eye on you since you pulled my ass outta the fire last year."

"You mean when the Asurans took Atlantis?"

"That's the one." O'Neill punctuated it with his finger. "Don't be surprised, not everyone gets to make the IOA look stupid and get away with it. Kinda obvious you're attached to that place."

"You could say that, General." John couldn't deny O'Neill's words. The mission had been a hard thing to undertake, but some decisions had to be made and stuck by.

O'Neill nodded idly and quieted. John could hardly hear him. "Back Carter up no matter what."

"Sir?" John asked.

"You heard me." O'Neill replied coldly. "I'm not questioning your loyalty or your morals. But no matter what may or may not happen, you watch her back. Consider it a mission for Homeworld Security." O'Neill got up and straightened his jacket – he was leaving.

"No offense, General." John said as he sat and contemplated. "Have I given you any reason to think I won't?"

"No, but like I said, you aren't coming back." O'Neill replied tersely. "Good hunting, Colonel."

With that, General O'Neill walked away from the courtyard. John remained seated and wondered what exactly would come now.

_**February 18**__**th**__**, 2008, Late Afternoon**_

_**Hilton Garden Inn, Washington DC**_

Sam sat in her hotel room looking out at the Potomac, thinking. The events of the day were certainly on repeat in her head. New orders, orders she didn't agree with but had to follow. The refugees and Travelers on Atlantis could stay, but no more would be allowed. An additional platoon worth of combat hardened Marines fresh from the conflict with the Ori would be sent in to secure Earth's position on Atlantis. Relief supplies would continue to come in.

The Travelers had their own food and supplies that they brought, and Larrin had said something about sending out her scout ships to retrieve more. It was certainly a new thing to her to have to worry about food quotas and the survival of a whole city.

The main thing on her mind was the conversation she'd just had with General O'Neill. The secure line she'd managed to get a hold of had been enlightening, but not in any way she wanted.

The replicator was dead, but so was Dr. Poole, as well as Ava Dixon herself who turned out to be a replicator too. Sam had remained silent as O'Neill explained the political shitstorm they'd dodged. His contacts and political savvy kept it from getting out – but he was tied up and unable to go out for one last meeting before she had to go back to Atlantis. It was depressing to levels she hadn't expected. Where were all the people she had grown to trust and work with? What had happened to her life?

The phone rang to her surprise and she picked it up… hoping against hope. "Hello… Carter speaking."

"…"

"Hello?"

"_*click*"_

Sam looked at the phone for a moment. Only someone who would _want_ to call knew she was here. Must have been a wrong number. She set it down and looked around the small hotel room. It was decently furnished, but it didn't feel like home. It would have been nice to go home, but even with her rank and privileges, Odyssey wasn't a taxi service. A redeye flight was the last thing she wanted and now all that was left was the mini-bar and much too expensive candy chocolates.

She was just reaching for her fifth chocolate coated peanut when a knock came to the door. She stood and walked over to the door – it lacked a peephole. "Yes?"

"…_Sam."_

"John?" Sam opened the door automatically – only afterwards realizing she was only wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants. John on the other hand leaned on the door jamb with one hand. He wore a dark dress shirt and jeans, accented by a leather jacket. "Hey Sam."

Sam furrowed her brow and looked back with more than a little confusion. "Hey."

_** Twenty Minutes EarlierL**_

John sat on the floor of his hotel room leaning against the bed. He stared at the wall beside the door and wondered how his life had gotten to this point. Dave was still the ignorant prick of a brother he remembered, Nancy was still just as beautiful, and just as wounded. Memories of Afghanistan haunted him as he remembered all the nights Nancy would want to help him and he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. It was a mercy that she didn't know the things that bothered him and only left with a broken heart instead of a broken spirit.

He remembered what drove him to like Antarctica – the lack of people and major responsibilities – he'd been hiding. The cold was just a bonus. Atlantis had given him back that spirit, and gave him the opportunity to show how he could handle responsibility.

Now the IOA was looking for someone to blame for everything that went wrong. Responsibility had come to crush him and it was difficult not to look for some kind of crutch. The fact that he wasn't even able to have a peaceful time at his father's wake only added to the stress.

John felt the sting of isolation. Earth was just not where he felt like home anymore. Atlantis had taken the position and the people there were his family. His heart grieved over how wounded that family was now.

Ronon had been a better brother than Dave had been since grade school. John recalled once showing Dave the finer art of golfing – only to regret it later when Dave joined a Junior Pro tournament because their father wanted him to. Ronon had taken to golfing like he'd taken everything else John had tried to show him – hilariously. Ronon never cared that he was better than John at a lot of things. Ronon had risked his life time and again for John, and vice versa just as many times. While their blood made them related, John would gladly call Ronon his family and Dave the alien.

Four years together had given John and implicit trust of Teyla. The woman had strength that he just couldn't hope to understand. She'd suffered loss on a level John was only beginning to contemplate, and somehow she'd gotten through. John always felt closer to Teyla, right away developing a bond that didn't need explaining. She would need him now; need his support to be part of her growing family. She could share in his pain and he knew she could take it without harm – unlike another woman he'd loved once.

Rodney would certainly be another brother to John. John never got the chance to really tell him how much he admired Rodney. Despite a outwardly bashful and sometimes even cowardly appearance, John knew Rodney could be a hero at heart. The care Rodney had for his fellow man only showed when the situation was at its worst – the time when a person's true being showed in the light.

He missed Rodney. John would gladly call him his best friend now. He'd gladly listen to anything the man had to say or complain about just to have him back. He'd even forsake lemonade for the rest of his life. Rodney was someone who despite all his issues and the hardships of living in Atlantis would still be there for him in the end. He'd never abandon him.

The realization was painful but it was true. There was nothing left for him on Earth and he _wasn't _coming back. General O'Neill had deduced it correctly. It was by far the last thing John ever expected to hear from a General. It was even bordering on treasonous. John wondered what O'Neill was really capable of if that was his idea of a pep talk.

The phone rang, and John picked it up knowing only a few people knew he was here. No one he really cared about. "John Sheppard."

"_Mr. Sheppard. This is Edward Bennett Esquire. We spoke earlier today?"_

John winced; he'd only spoken with the lawyer because of what General O'Neill had told him, to get his affairs in order. "Yes, what is it?"

"_As requested, __I've gone over the instructions your father had left in his will. It's all very complicated but in the end, it comes out as a ten, thirty, and sixty percent split of non-public assets between yourself with thirty, your brother David getting sixty, and your ex-wife getting ten percent respectively."_

"Oh…" It didn't surprise John. His father still blamed him for the divorce. Nancy's family were well to do regardless and she'd likely look at the money as just a pleasant surprise. In a way John felt good that Nancy came out with _something_ other than heartache. David on the other hand had everything he would ever need ever since taking over the company, so John knew it was only disposable income. John was surprised he'd actually gotten as much as he did. Thirty percent of his father's assets were no joke. Even half a percent was more than most people made in a year. "That's… that's good. So did you finish work on my own?"

"_Yes Colonel Sheppard. It's unfortunate, but a death in the family always reminds us of our own affairs. Something I've had to get used to working as I do."_

_Boo-fucking-hoo_. "So it's all set up?"

"_Yes sir, the requested assets are to go to your ex-wife as you requested along with your letter. Sixty percent of your liquidated assets and inheritance will go to the relief fund you specified as an immediate donation. I'm unable to find any prior documentation on this fund, but I have already received a receipt and confirmation of approval. The remaining liquidated funds have been deposited into your bank account, and as per your request, any remaining funds upon... uhh… well that is to say, god forbid something should happen, all remaining assets and funds to your name will be donated to the charities you specified."_

John noticed a lingering moment on the lawyer's tongue, and decided to find out exactly what it was. "Is there something wrong?"

"_No sir. It's just that, well it's a lot of money, sir… I'm handling your brother's account as well and he's investing his portion back into your father's company. In fact he's actually purchased most of the shares you've liquidated."_

The confusion was understandable, but John didn't feel like explaining it. "Well _he_ can do whatever _he_ wants to with _his_ money. This is what _I _want to do with _my_ money."

"_ Of course, sir." _The Lawyer replied in a practiced tone. _"I would never presume to tell you what to do with your own assets, sir. As it stands, your legal and financial state meets with the specifications you've given me."_

Everything was done and over with then. John wondered where that sense of relief was and whether it would ever show up. "Thank you, your services have been most helpful."

"_Glad to be of service. Your father was a good friend of ours and we're always happy to help the Sheppard family."_

John _almost_ told him to shove it. _Sheppard_ was nothing more than his name, not his legacy. Instead he looked at the armband on his hand and sighed. "Thank you. Have a good night."

John hung up the call and threw the phone onto the floor beside him. He realized that that was it. His life on Earth was all in order. If he'd done it before coming to Atlantis four years ago things may have been different. Now it was all said and done. Pegasus was the only place he had unfinished business.

One last night on Earth. John wondered what he should do. Temptation had him raiding that liquor store across the street and getting his mind off the situation. His adrenaline had him going out to enjoy himself one last time. He needed something memorable, something to leave his last memory of this place better than the pain he'd felt today.

He picked up the newspaper left by in the morning. He was only opening it now in the late afternoon. John tossed everything but the local entertainment section out across the floor. If he was in luck, there might be a concert with a band he liked, or at least some kind of festival. It wasn't long before he saw something that looked good. _'Hmm… President's Day Carnival.'_

It would be easy to go and find someone to hang out with. All he had to do was show up, look for a group of women and isolate one of them with the games and festivities going around. He couldn't help but smirk at what would Sam say to see some random woman leave his hotel room in the morning after his little tet-a-tet with Larrin on Atlantis.

His mind _traveled_ in every sense as he wondered what Larrin would think of Earth. He refocused and shook his head. He didn't want a one time friend – a single use friend – John wanted someone he could share this experience with. If Ronon had come it would have been great. The Satedan would finally learn what a Ferris wheel was like, and certainly the Earth women would fawn all over him. The carnival was sure to have shooting games and John had no doubt Ronon would leave with dozens of plush toys and prizes.

Even Larrin would have enjoyed it… probably. John made a mental note to see what bits of Earth culture he could get Larrin to experience when he got back.

John thought about it and came to a conclusion. There was only one person in the whole of DC right now who might be able to bear his company. But he had no clue if she was there and if she'd even want to.

It was a little cowardly, but John was unwilling to disturb his commanding officer if she was busy with something. He picked up the phone, took a few seconds to buck up the courage, and then called through the Hotel's outside line. It might seem odd to the switchboard operator for a hotel room to be calling the one right across from it, but it didn't stop the call from going through.

"_Hello? Carter speaking."_

Sam was there, and John closed his eyes and listened. She didn't even have the radio on.

"_Hello?"_

Another second, and John hung up the phone. He felt disturbed over his creepy actions, but in the state he was in John just didn't care anymore.

He took a minute to compose himself, waiting to see if she'd trace the call. When nothing came through, John cleaned himself up a bit and threw on his jacket. He walked out into the hallway and across to Sam's room.

John took another deep breath and dove in – his knuckles rapping on her door. It took a moment for a reply, and John realized that Sam wasn't just his commanding officer. She _trusted _him. Cadman wouldn't be alive if she hadn't trusted him and that meant that she might be able to understand what he was really asking now.

_"Yes?" _Sam's voice cut through his thoughts from inside the room.

"…Sam."

"_John?"_

The door opened, and revealed Sam. She was wearing light clothes and looked civilian. Then again so did he. "Hey Sam…"

Sam made a slightly confused face, but her smile was still there. "Hey." She almost seemed amused.

John hesistated a half second and plunged. "You like Ferris Wheels?"

Sam pulled a confused face, and then shrugged. "Sure?"

* * *

Sam was seriously confused. "You didn't come here just to ask me that." She narrowed her eyes. "_Did you_?" She didn't put it past him – not in the state he must have been in.

John again took just a second too long with his reply. "You wanna go out? There's a carnival tonight and I wanted to do something before we headed back."

"A carnival?" Sam asked. She hadn't even realized that today was President's Day and Washington was likely going to be a long night out tonight. John's request seemed almost lost in the confusion.

"Yeah, you know? Cotton Candy, Ferris Wheels, the obligatory teddy bear I'm supposed to win."

"Are…" Sam asked incredulously, finally understanding. "Are you asking me out?" The words dumbfounded her.

"And if I am?" John stared back almost defiantly.

Sam was even more confused than before. John stood his ground on the request despite her confusion. He reminded her of all the times O'Neill would ask her to go fishing with him. "I'd have to ask why." Sam asked.

"I think we both need a break." John answered instantly – no hesitation anymore. "After what's happened, I want to unwind a bit and I really think we'll have fun. Something we _both _could use."

Sam saw the resolute confidence in his posture, and knew that he really did think that. "You're serious aren't you?"

"When's the next time we'll be here Sam?" John asked. His voice seemed dejected, far from what she was expecting "A month? A year? Never? So yeah, I am serious." He started to chuckle and shook his head. "You don't have to say yes, Sam. I'm asking because I think you'll enjoy it, but if you won't then I'm not forcing you."

"No no no…" Sam quickly replied. She had had a moment to think and it wasn't like he wasn't right. "You're right. A night out sounds great actually. I guess I'm just a little surprised you're asking is all."

"Honestly?" John said. "Me too."

"Okay." Sam said. "Give me a few minutes to freshen up. I'll knock on your door when I'm ready." She had been planning on just devouring all those chocolates in the seven dollar tin in the mini-fridge. So expensive for so little. Now her night seemed to be going in an entirely different direction. John nodded as he walked back to his room. Sam found that the prospect of fun felt… exciting.

* * *

"You know it's been years since I came to one of these?"

John shrugged and nodded idly as they walked through the ticket agent and into the carnival itself. Noise surrounded them with alarms, kids screaming, and the general aura of fun and games. The lights flashing around him as the sky began to darken just a bit only made him smile. "Figured. The mountain must have kept you busy all that time."

Sam nodded as she looked around as well – he noted the smile she wore as she looked around just as he had. "Oh yeah. Last time I went to a carnival or theme park was..." Sam's face changed to nostalgia. "Wow, almost five years. Cassie's graduation."

"Cassie?" He took a second to think, she'd spoken of a Cassandra when they'd found out Teyla was pregnant. "That's right. Cassandra, your…"John furrowed his brow and muttered. "Can't remember what you said the relation was. Sorry."

Sam laughed out loud to John's confusion. "Let's just say we're really good friends." Sam hooked her arm around John's as they moved through the grounds. Carnival workers walked around in Uncle Sam outfits and handed out American flags. Spirals and confetti flew around as well, the whole area by the river had been converted into a funland. It was barely four in the afternoon and they had plenty of time. "So what do you want to do first? Go on a ride? Play some games? Mind you, I _hate _the house of mirrors."

"How 'bout we just walk around and see what catches our eye?"

"Okay." Sam replied and followed his step. "I'm sure they've got a lot going on. I do want to try and win some prizes though, I hate going home emptyhanded."

John steered them towards a long section of games – flashing lights and Uncle Sam's on stilts were nothing if not an attraction. "It's easy to win the small prizes. I only ever played the hard games where you win the big prizes."

Sam made an annoyed sound. "I'd go crazy. Most of these games are rigged anyway."

"That's just part of the challenge." John replied. Sam stopped and pulled him into a faceoff.

"So you _like_ getting frustrated?"

John shook his head. "Of course not, but there's something about beating impossible odds." He motioned over to a nearby rings game. John could tell right away that the rings were merely millimeters bigger than the necks of the Coke bottles they were tossed on. "See that? Impossible, right?"

"Improbable." Sam corrected. "Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's impossible."

"Exactly." John replied. "It's easy to win if the odds are in your favor. It's _so _much better to win when you've got the house stacked against you."

Sam shrugged and looked around. "I can get that. You like the challenge and exhilaration when you win." She tugged on John's arm and pointed. "Look."

John looked at what she pointed at, it was a blackjack styled game with multiple players and a lot of smaller plush toys in the wake – easy pickings. "You like blackjack?"

Sam leaned over and whispered. _"I card count._"

John chuckled and shook his head.

By the time they left the booth twenty minutes later, they'd won several smaller toys between the two of them, and even tokens that could be used for rides.

John had secured a plastic bag to carry their toys and led the way. It had been a fun game and their coordination had proven both rewarding and fun. The worker at the booth had noticed and called them out on it in a playful manner. John didn't care, but they couldn't stay here all night.

To his surprise, Sam tugged on his arm again and pointed towards the rides. "The Ferris wheel is over there." She turned and smirked. "I'm sure you knew that though."

John shook his head. "Not yet, still lots of games we can play."

Sam's face grew slightly serious and she quietly said. "Okay, I just thought-"

"I know." He'd made no secret of his love for Ferris Wheels, but now wasn't the time. "Later, Trust me you'll see." He stopped and looked around, he was in the center of a bunch of different games and he needed something to focus on. "Alright, I want you to stand here and point out a toy you want."

Sam scoffed and smacked him on the arm "Oh come on, that's the best you got? Lame."

"No no no." John insisted. "It's only lame if I buy it straight. We're gonna _win it _together."

"John, these games are rigged." Sam said. She then held up the bag of toys worth maybe a couple of bucks "Look at this! That's twenty bucks we just wasted there. How much are you seriously going to spend to get _one _big toy?"

"Blackjack was fun." He took a deep breath. "This is different, I'm on a mission. Now what toy do you want?"

"John-"

_"Humor me." _

"Oh alright." Sam scanned the area and squinted. John tracked as well trying to figure out what she wanted. Eventually she pointed at a game about breaking plates with a baseball. "There, see that?"

John squinted. There were a lot of toys. "The toucan?"

"_No." _Sam replied emphatically. She accented it with an elbow to John's gut. He groaned softly as he realized the pun only afterwards. "Look! The big panda bear."

"Bamboo?" John asked. He finally noticed the massive plush toy.

Sam rolled her eyes and began to drag him forward. Now came the time where he'd have to put up or shut up, and he had a lot more to say tonight.

* * *

Sam sighed contentedly as she sat back in the Ferris Wheel's seat. John sat across from her admiring the Potomac River in the distance. "You were right. It's better at night."

The darkening sky led to a stunning view with lights popping on, John's fascination with it finally started making sense. He nodded idly as the Ferris Wheel came to a stop and they enjoyed the calm. "It's been awhile since I've been on one."

Sam scootched closer to John – the bag of plush toys including the Panda Bear fell to the ground but she didn't mind. "I think I can appreciate why you like these."

"Oh?"

"You're a pilot." Sam surmised. "When you fly it's exhilarating, but you've got to focus – Less time to admire the view. Sometimes you wanna fly _and_ smell the roses at the same time."

John smiled in reply. "Yeah, you know the feeling. Just sit back and phase into everything.

"Total rush." Sam had to admit that she hadn't felt this relaxed in months. It had actually been quite some time since she felt this way. "I remember back when I was working in Nevada. I used to grab my Indian and ride on those open flat roads. No cops, no hassle, just me, my bike and the wind." Sam had said it just to relate the experience, but John now gave her a long stare, he seemed surprised. "What?" Sam asked suddenly bashful – he almost seemed to be looking so hard as to see _inside_ her. "Do I have some gunk on my face or something?"

John snorted and shook his head. "Ha! No no no. It's just… You like bikes?"

Sam nodded and saw the glean in John's eye. Evidently their night had only just begun.

* * *

The rental agency had surprisingly allowed them to take the bikes out without an appointment, something she was curiously suspicious about, but Sam knew John could be very persuasive when he wanted to be.

"Any chance I can bring my bike to the base? The piers would make _great_ places to burn rubber."

Sam shook her head and pulled a brush through her hair to fix the tangled mess it'd become from the helmet she was just wearing. "Sorry… I've been trying since I got there… no luck."

"Darnit." John huffed as he waited outside the door. The women's washroom wasn't all that nice but at least the clerk had been able to let her borrow a brush. The ride had been fun as hell and with President's Day celebrations all around, the world had become a rush of colors and sounds at high speed.

They both chuckled softly as Sam finished, and then exited the washroom. She returned the brush and walked out with John into the night. While they had a car across the street in a parking garage, walking felt more like what she wanted to do. John didn't mind as he followed – the storefronts of Washington looming around them, as they walked down the street. The bike ride had been fun and Sam wasn't surprised John knew how to ride, in fact it was vice versa – John hadn't expected _her _to be such a good rider. Sam's stomach grumbled as they passed by other people – more than a few with bags of their own plushy dolls. "I'm starving, want to grab a bite?"

John nodded. "Read my mind."

* * *

John looked around the street they'd ended up on, they were in a more prestigious area of Washington, M Street near Pennsylvania Ave. Normally he wouldn't be out walking in the middle of the night but with President's Day, the cops were out in force and he felt no fear. Quite a few of these higher end restaurants had offers for the day, but he noticed one in particular had no such offer. The place looked like it was a member's only club with a velvet rope and bodyguard at the entrance – yet elegant view in the window to the front.

It reminded him of all the restaurants his father had taken them. All he wanted was a burger and instead he'd gotten some crazy concoction from some part of the world he'd never heard of, and his every need pampered for while eating. It had taken him till he was older to understand just how much Patrick had spent to get them that kind of luxury, and how it was more for entertainment than actual food.

John looked at Sam and saw someone who was honest. Someone he'd discovered wasn't pretentious at all. He knew she'd be just like him – burger over caviar. Yet, he knew that the experience of these five star restaurants could stay with you, it was an event to be shared. "How 'bout that one?"

Sam turned and after looking at the restaurant for a second, started laughing. "Oh sure, we'll walk up and just grab any old table they've got." she playfully shoved John and shook her head idly. "There a steak house nearby?"

"Aw, where's that SG-1 sense of adventure?" He began to walk towards the classy restaurant. "Come on, I'll get us in."

Not giving her a chance to argue, John pulled Sam along towards the place – he was glad that he'd been able to swing by an ATM while biking – especially since he'd removed any daily limits on his accounts.

* * *

"I can't believe you bribed your way in here…" Sam wondered what the hell was going on in his head as they sat down at the _much _too lavishly draped table with seven different kinds of utensils in front of three plates. She noticed the walls and tables were adorned with real gold and silverwares – this place _wasn't _cheap. "They're just going to kick us out. That guy outside just robbed you blind."

John shrugged to her accusation. "Bribed, paid, it's all relative. Once I told him who I was he stopped jacking the price."

Sam shook her head and thought of how ridiculous they must seem. A five star restaurant that almost looked like a Victorian movie and they both looked like middle-class yuppies. The big plastic bag with the stuffed toys they'd won at the Carnival on the floor only made it _funnier. _Evidently John had quite the troll sense of humor as he waited.

John hadn't been stingy either – he'd demanded a private room. She felt the fabric of the tablecloth – it was a stupidly high thread count and soft as silk. Fish out of water didn't even begin to describe how Sam felt being inside this place. "I hope you realize this is the most humiliated I've ever been."

John again shrugged and turned his head as the door to the room opened – a waiter in an expensive looking suit gave them a distasteful look. "Why?"

"Because I've driven past this restaurant god knows how many times and never _once _even wanted to come in here." Sam knew John was teasing her. His sense of humor seemed twisted. "The dress code probably costs as much as my car."

"Custom Armani Suits? Twenty grand dresses?" John suggested as the waiter slowly approached.

Sam kept her voice down to attract even less attention. "Yes! Look at us and then look at this place. I feel like K-Mart in a Harry Rosen."

John shook his head, and reaching into his pocket he put his wallet on the table. "Come on, I'm sure you've had worse out there." He motioned upwards to the sky. "Besides, All these guys care about is this." John patted his wallet. "So trust me, we're fine."

It wasn't often Sam saw someone use their wallet as muscle, and when the waiter finally arrived, John smirked almost deviously to him. "Evenin'"

"Good Evening, _sir." _Sam noted how distressed he appeared. "I feel obligated to tell you that this restaurant has a dress code that we do enforce."

Sam smirked at John – wondering how he could possibly get out of this one. His black dress shirt while nice wasn't Dolce and Gabbana. "So jeans ain't gonna cut it?"

"No air. We strive for the best experience here."

John nodded idly as he went into his wallet and took two cards out. Sam focused and was a little surprised to see a shiny black Centurion AMEX card –along with his driver's license. "You make a good point. Here." He handed the cards to the waiter. "Take that, find the nearest tailor shop and get us something fitting. Say…"John turned to Sam – Sam's mouth had gone slightly agape and her eyes grew wide. "…something deep blue for the lady, contemporary and comfortable. Black for myself; Modern style. Get accessories as well, no limit, just make sure we more than meet your dress code."

Sam was just as shocked as the waiter was. He quickly examined the cards and could see nothing wrong with them. "Uh, sir. This is most atypical,"

John rolled his eyes and pulled out a fresh wad of bills. He tucked a good amount of them into the Waiter's vest pocket – at _least _a thousand. "I wouldn't expect you to go above and beyond for nothing."

The waiter seemed to recover from his shock, much sooner than Sam who was still trying to figure out what John had just done. "Very well Sir. Do note that I shall need to verify this information but…" He looked at the Driver's license again and added. "I shall see what I can do. Would you like an appetizer before the Maître'd comes to take your order?'

With a motion of his head, John acknowledged Sam. "You want anything?"

Sam could only shake her head as she slowly absorbed the information. John had gone insane – it was the only answer.

John simply shrugged and looked at the waiter. "How 'bout some Chateau Letour Paulliac; you must have a couple bottles in the cellar downstairs."

"Yes, sir. I shall have the sommelier come at once, If you shall excuse me."

The waiter left quickly, obviously disturbed by the turn of events. Sam finally reconnected her vocal cords to her brain and stared at John with almost-rage. Her voice squeaked. "_John! What the __hell__ are you doing?"_

A simple shrug was all John would reply with, he'd poured himself a cup of water and took a sip as he relaxed in his chair. "_What_? It's the only wine I remember liking."

"_Not what I meant!"_

"Well, I haven't done this since I was a kid and I hardly paid attention then." John seemed indignant and almost a little hurt at her words. "Can't blame me for being a little rusty now."

Sam simply lowered her head into her hands as she laid her elbows on the table. "You do realize how embarrassed I am. And don't think that because you've spent your yearly pay on this I'm going to forget it."

John chuckled and shook his head. "Sam… unless there's someway we can spend ten million dollars in the time it takes us to get to Colorado, _I don't really give two shits_."

Sam's voice caught as she replied – she could feel the blood draining out of her face. "Ten mill… _ten million dollars?_ You're wasting your _inheritance_?" She waved at the unnecessary trimmings and decorations, eventually holding up an appetizer fork that served no purpose but to snag tiny portions of food. "_On this?_"

John took another sip of his water and shrugged in reply. "Part of it; the rest I donated to the IOA's relief supplies going to the base."

"Wait…" Sam leaned back in her chair at stared at John - he looked completely innocent. "Time out." She waved her hands to the side like a referee. "You _donated_ your inheritance to…" John met her gaze. He showed no regret. She _had _to know. Sam wasn't sure her voice had even been this serious. "How much John?"

"Not entirely sure." John admitted – he scratched the back of his head. "Something like sixty percent of thirty-two million if I recall correctly."

Sam felt time come to a halt for a moment before sputtering. "You're _shitting_ me." The number nineteen point two million floated in her head somewhere, but it just wouldn't come out. "You're insane."

John's smile said it all. He nonchalantly took another sip of water. "The paperwork should be on your desk by the time we get back."

* * *

"Remember I said I was gonna kill you?"

John nodded as he pulled Sam along into the small side room of the restaurant. The rather attractive blue dress she had changed into was dazzling. "Can it wait for tomorrow?"

Sam laughed – once the realization that John wasn't actually crazy set into place, Sam had started to have fun. She was still in shock as his actions, but maybe she started to understand what money really meant to him.

The menu was short, the portions were tiny, but it had been a fun experience figuring out what things were. Hunger was abated but Sam knew she'd get hungry later – those peanuts in her hotel room awaited. The night wasn't over yet as John pulled Sam along deeper into the restaurant. Sam laughed and shook her head. "It's going to wait till we're in Colorado so I can get away with it."

John opened the door to the side room of the restaurant and let Sam walk in first. The Maitre'd had been surprised with John's request, but with a Centurion Card – he wasn't going to say no. The sideroom was actually a mid-sized hall with a large grand piano and permanent band. Typically reserved in advance, John had _convinced_ them to give he and Sam admittance. A few other couples lounged and danced – with their new clothes they seemed to fit right in until they noticed his hair – and her nervousness.

John turned to Sam with a devious grin. Sam met it with a surprised expression – mixed with a little amused anger. John said. "Can't have dinner at a five star restaurant without a romantic dance."

Sam took another step in and John closed the door. The place was even better furnished than the dining rooms and John couldn't help but think of all the other Victorian movies his mom had watched as a kid. Sam slowly took it all in and then turned to him. "I am going to klll you _slowly_." Her restrained laughter told John she was only teasing. Her reaction was completely understandable for something that frankly – was ridiculous. She smiled as she said the next part. "But not until after we dance."

* * *

Sam wasn't sure what to think. The night had evolved in such a different way than she expected now that they were wearing clothes and accessories worth almost worth that of a Javelin Missile Launcher, standing in a ballroom with people who likely had no clue she was just a Colonel in the Air Force, not some Captain of industry or expensive arm candy. Sam knew she was at least decently attractive but not _a hundred thousand dollar a night _attractive.

John himself looked funny as hell in his ultra-expensive suit and mussed up hair. She'd teased him that he looked like a model for Versace or some other high-end clothing designer. He'd quickly gotten embarrassed and changed the subject to her amusement. She heard more than a few mutters of '_new money.' _around her but she couldn't even begin to dare to explain.

John had moved off for a moment to speak to the piano player and head of the band. She hadn't noticed it until it was too late and the soft classical music slowly came to a halt.

Sam instantly knew that John had once again bribed his way through – he was spending money like it was worthless. In high school she'd had college dudes try and woo her with their cars and wallets. This didn't feel anything like that and felt more like John just wanted to share this experience with her. It was a strange feeling. If he were anyone else, she'd have left him at the corner of the street hours ago.

John came back and led her onto the dance floor – his left hand took her right and extended, while his right held her side. She was too shocked to say anything as he grinned like a madman. The band conferred for a second, then began with a strings solo – a Tango. She winced and then shot narrow slit eyes to John whose grin just didn't end. "I _hate_ you." She said it with a deadpan, curious to see whether John was as good as he obviously thought he was.

"It does take two to tango." John replied.

Sam's scowl turned to a giggle at the corny joke.

* * *

"So where'd you learn to dance John?"

The tango was long over. John wondered the same about Sam as they'd soon become a spectacle for those around them. Both were a little rusty, but it was clear that neither of them cared about the little details anymore. The music had changed twice over now and it was a slow dance that played – not exactly romantic but sure as hell relaxing. They spun lazily and rocked back and forth.

"My mom wanted me to learn." John replied. "Didn't want me to look like a fool later in life. Guess she was right."

Sam snorted and smiled. "Smart woman, she knew you'd be here today and be able to keep up." John chuckled back, but tried to keep memories of his mother away. Sam didn't push anymore and clearly she caught the hint that John's mother was gone.

"I guess there are still some things I appreciate from back then." John sighed softly, and then turned the tables on Sam. "So where'd you learn to dance like that? I can't see you doing it very often on SG-1."

"No…" Sam replied, she didn't seem embarrassed at all. "I learned when I was a kid too; before I got all geeky." Sam rolled her eyes at John's smirk. "Astrophysics doesn't leave much time for prancing around or becoming a ballerina."

John laughed and didn't reply. Sam couldn't help but notice how easily they'd gotten into a pretty intimate dance position – one of his hands held hers and the other pulled her close on the small of her back. The dress left it exposed and the feel of his hand on her naked spine had given her a shiver. She'd gone formal as well and had her arms around his neck, both looking into each other's faces.

Despite the intimate position, it felt so casual. Sam didn't worry at all about what they wee doing, even as romantic as it must have looked. John finally spoke after a few moments. "Well, you seem like a pretty cool geek to me."

Sam scoffed playfully. "Sucking up to the boss? At least you're consistent." Before John could reply, she continued. "And since when do jocks compliment geeks?"

To Sam's surprise, John suddenly grumbled. "Jock?"

"Oh? You don't consider yourself a Jock?"

"Well, I'm working for a self-proclaimed geek, didn't seem smart to diss em back then, why start now?"

"Jackass." Sam muttered – he was so smooth with his teases. The dance was just about over, and Sam reluctantly pulled away. "Well, kind sir…" She began and decided to give him back some ribbing for such an insane night. "This fair maiden dost feel faint. Wouldst thou escort mine fair lady back to her hotel room?"

John went wide eyed for a second, and stifled his laugh at such a ridiculous way of speaking. "Oh god, _what have I done?_ _Why did I expose you?_" Tears began to form in his eyes at how funny he found it – he wiped them on his hands as he replied. "I gotta get you outta here, before you really _do_ become infected."

Sam linked her arm with his and began to walk away. It was ten thirty at night and the night felt like it was over. Sam had to admit, only a few hours had made such a difference to her stress levels.

As they reached the door back to the main rooms however, something caught Sam's eye. A beautiful crystal chess set by the door – they hadn't noticed it the first time through and Sam had to admire the craftsmanship. "Wow, look at that."

John did as he was ordered, and spotted what she'd seen. "Hmm? Oh. Yeah wow. That's impressive." The chess set was a work of art – precious metals ringed the board while crystals – likely extremely expensive – adorned the Opal and Quartz pieces as needed. "I'm totally buying it."

Sam turned and scoffed. "Are you serious? I just said I _liked_ it, not to _buy_ it for me."

John snorted back almost derisively to Sam's surprise. "Who the hell said anything about _you_? It's _my _chess set."

Sam winced and slapped her forehead. "_Oh lord_, you're a lunatic."

* * *

After buying the Chess Set, they had ordered a car and John offered to take her to dinner. When Sam's question of _'Then what the hell did we just do here?'_ was answered by John's reply of _'That wasn't food. That was entertainment. Now are we actually gonna get something to eat? I'm starving!'_, Sam gladly accepted as her stomach was quite less than full.

Now satisfied from choice selections from the menu at Spanky's Bar and Grill along with hilarious stories of their youths, John was walking her back to the door. Sam had both the plastic bag with the plushies in it in one hand, as well as the takeout bag with what was left of her second dinner in the other. Her arm was still linked with John's as they approached their rooms.

Sam would have expected something from someone else but John was different. Sam knew damn well he was being perfectly honest the entire night. Certainly Sam herself had quite a savings from so many years living on base, spending months at a time off-world. John was simply letting loose and unwinding. She couldn't blame him what with everything going on in Pegasus. An inheritance like what he'd gotten and certainly she might do something crazy – he hadn't even spent a tenth of it if she didn't count his 'donation'. Even if she did, it barely went above a tenth.

"Here's my room."

Unlinking their arms, but still holding her hand, John smiled to her. "Yeah, mine's just around the corner."

Sam leaned against the wall – she'd left in a casual getup and was coming back looking like a princess. It was such a ridiculous night and yet… "Thanks, John"

"Oh? What for?"

Sam laughed and shoved at him. "For _everything_. I had a lot of fun tonight." She leaned forward and gave him a reassuring hug. He met it with just the right force and length back, letting go of her and turning. Sam wasn't done quite yet though.

She reached out and took his arm before he got two steps. He stopped and turned back, curious. "Uhh, I kinda need my arm."

Sam smiled and motioned into her room. "What? We're not gonna give that ridiculously overpriced chess set a go? I've still got a mini-fridge full of chocolate peanuts and I am _not _finishing those on my own."

John chuckled and shook his head. "Well, I guess we have time for one game."

* * *

That one game ended up taking a lot longer than either of them expected. Sam had been surprised to find that John was a high level player. The only place big enough was on the bed and they agreed to change into more casual clothes. Sam hadn't been sure about the dress, but John seemed to be honest that he didn't care. That one dress cost more than her entire wardrobe on Atlantis and it now hung perched in the hotel room closet. Once the game started, the conversation quickly overtook its interest.

They spoke about missions, people they'd met, people they'd like to meet, even played twenty questions at one point. The similarities between them were comical, and the conversation was very lighthearted. Sam had told him of the space race, and John swore if it ever happened to him he'd take a Jumper. Upon hearing of John's encounters with Lucius, Sam had howled with laughter and recalled her own encounters with quirky people.

It was a conversation they'd only touched on back in Atlantis, Sam knew John had just as many experiences in Pegasus as she had in the Milky Way. It was fascinating to hear him talk about the places he'd visited and the strange customs he'd taken part in. Sam rebutted with her own stories that John listened to like an interested child to a bedtime story.

Sam did note throughout the whole conversation though that he rarely if ever dropped any hints of his personal life outside Atlantis… something that made her even more curious about him. But it wasn't until late in the game that something happened that neither was expecting.

John had just moved his hand as he lay on the bed to pick up his Knight when a drop of his blood from the stitches on his hand fell and hit the board. It beaded momentarily, but then began to dry. Sam noticed instantly, and ignoring any argument from him, pulled a napkin from the side and began to dab at the wound.

As she held his hand though, a thought came to her. "John, why do you wear that wrist band? I don't think I've ever seen you without it."

"Well…" John's voice changed – almost deflective. "I like the way it looks."

Sam narrowed her eyes and tried to think of a time she'd seen him without it – she couldn't. "You've been wearing it all night, even when you had the suit on you had it. I could feel it when we were dancing."

"Sam…" John replied – all of a sudden he seemed self-conscious

Sam saw his reluctance and shook her head. "You know what? It's okay John, you don't have to tell me."

Sam was surprised at how John was reacting, she didn't think a simple question like that would ruin their extravagant evening. John looked away for a moment as he massaged his knuckles and then asked quietly. "Do you really want to know?"

"It's obviously important to you." Sam said. She sat up and tried to cross her legs, but found it difficult in the dress. She settled for laying on the side of them. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't care. I guess I do want to know."

"Promise me you won't tell anyone?"

"Hmm?"

"_Promise me_ you won't tell anyone."

Sam was surprised – what was she getting herself into? "Yeah, I promise."

John sighed and extended his hand to her. "Go ahead."

Sam didn't need any more encouragement. She pulled his hand closer and began to untie the knots on the leather armband. Instantly she noticed a tan line and wondered just how long he'd been wearing this thing. Once she had it all undone, she gently pulled it off his wrist and set it down on the bed. It took a few seconds for her to notice it, but there were three lines tattooed along his wrist. They looked surprisingly familiar and most people wouldn't even notice it unless they got close. "A tattoo? Well that's not…" Looking closely, she recognized it. "Wait, wait a second."

John scoffed softly. "Oh yeah, you know what it is."

Running her fingers on his wrist, she followed the wave as it traveled along his wrist. "Is, is that a Bessel Function?"

John gulped and hesitated with his answer. "Yes?"

"Wha…. Why would you get a Bessel Function on your-?" She looked at John who suddenly seemed bashful. There was a story behind this and now she was curious as hell. "You studied math in College, didn't you?"

"Stanford is high tech." John pulled his hand back and rubbed his wrist. "Theoretical maths and advanced avionics. Not exactly a Harvard education."

Sam was amazed, she knew John was a smart one, but not _that_ smart. "I'm, wow." She was almost speechless. It took her several seconds to come up with a reply. "No offense John, but how'd you end up in the Air Force?"

A smile creased his face now, and John recounted the tale. "Well, I told you my dad had my life planned at fourteen right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I had my plan at eighteen. Graduated high school, got this." He rubbed his wrist. "I just wanted to piss Dad off. I'd gotten a scholarship for pretty much any school I wanted. Not sure if it was my grades or Dad, but he wanted Harvard. I wanted to get the hell away." John leaned back a bit and shook his head. "I chose Stanford because it was the farthest away. I just lucked out they had such good programs." He laughed to himself a bit. "The plan was graduate with honors in maths and avionics. Go work at Lockheed or Concorde at the time. You know, something that made a difference."

"What happened?"

John started to chuckle mindlessly, almost in disbelief. "Second year I took a chopper lesson for kicks. Can you imagine flying a chopper down Mavericks and just feeling that ocean breeze a couple hundred feet in the air?"

Now Sam understood. She smiled. "You fell in love with flying, not just the engineering."

"All of a sudden Lockheed and Concorde weren't looking so good." John replied. "I wanted to _fly_. I wanted to go up there and tear the sky apart. I still wanted to make a difference and who had the best planes?"

"The Air Force."

"Yep, when I told my dad he flipped his lid. I guess he was worried but I made my choice."

Sam reached over and rubbed his hand,. "I'm sorry John. I know what that's like."

John replied quickly. "I'm not surprised, a General for a dad must have been…" He looked at Sam and faltered off. She was thankful as thinking about her father wasn't something she wanted to do now. "Anyways, after basic and flight training I end up in Bosnia. That's where I got this from." He held up the wrist-band. "My wing mates saw the ink and figured out what it was. My first call sign was Einstein, not exactly what I had in mind."

Sam smiled and chuckled softly; her hands covered the giddy smile. "John '_Einstein'_ Sheppard, I can sorta see it if you grew your hair out really long."

The groan from John's lips told her his feelings on the matter. "_Oh god_. Please Sam, don't tell anyone. Everyone who knows I've got this doesn't know what it is. Just tell me you won't tell any scientists on base."

"Of course. I get that." She smiled with an evil grin. "But I should warn you, I'm a scientist myself."

John groaned softly. "Great, next thing I know I'll be helping Radek and Mila with a Naquadah generator. Like that isn't a terrible idea."

"_Oh god._" Sam took a moment to compose herself. Exhaustion was starting to set in and she knew sleep was needed. "So that's why you hide it?"

John nodded and sighed. "Yeah, just… not something I like to think about much." An awkward silence and John changed the subject. "Hey, I'm gonna wash up, back in a minute."

"Yeah, it's your move. I think we're almost done."

* * *

John walked into the washroom and washed off his hand. Inside he was shaking, but it felt oddly good to let go of such an old demon. He was surprised that Sam seemed to understand and simply accept his troubled relationship with his family. Almost as if she knew what it was like. John took his time cleaning the cut, and it had only been two or three minutes before he finished and walked back into the main room.

He headed back towards the bed, but noticed instantly that Sam's eyes were closed as she lay on the bed. He made a few movements to see if she was still awake – nope. Sam had fallen fast asleep. He noted the time, 1:38 am. _Really_ late considering they'd gotten up around six in the morning. John scoffed softly as he saw her sleep – the chess board still in front of her.

John took care in gently pulling out his armband from her hand, then pulled the blanket he'd been using a pillow to cover her. He opened one of the drawers on the nightstand and using a paper and a pen he found. John quickly scribbled a note for her when she woke up. He tossed it onto the chessboard and crouched next to the bed. "Good night Sam." John patted her on her right shoulder as he whispered, the action drawing a small sigh and shifting in Sam's form under the blanket, but she remained asleep. John rubbed his face, realized he needed sleep too and left the room without another thought.

John wondered what she'd say when she read the note in the morning.

"_Checkmate in three moves… good game."_

_**February 21**__**st**__**, 2008**_

_**Atlantis, Gate Room**_

Captain Alicia Vega looked around the gateroom and wondered exactly how big this place was. Before she could take in the sights beyond a glimpse, she felt a shove behind her.

"Move it, you Vegabond."

Alicia turned and smiled at the tease from her friend and comrade, Sergeant "Dusty" Mehra. The Indian woman looked annoyed as more marines and Air Force officers came through the gate from Midway. Alicia complied and paid attention as the city's gate technician and chief operations officer, Tech Sergeant Charles Campbell directed each group to their assigned tour guides and officers in charge.

Now with a moment to think, Alicia hiked her pack and admired how different this place was to the SGC. It was eerie to draw the similarities to the Ori buildings and craft she'd seen, but this felt much more friendly. The sunlight coming in from outside was pleasant and she could swear the air was sweeter. She'd just come back from a three month break in her hometown of Miami so the less than boiling temperature and humidity was great – but then again that break had come after a five month campaign against the Ori. Not to mention the memories left from Iraq.

Atlantis was a fresh start for Alicia. Somehow Dusty had gotten dragged along as well and as always, she complained. "Well, this place looks like a designers wet dream." Alicia turned and smiled at Dusty – she could always make her laugh. Dusty turned and shrugged. "That's our tour guide there. You coming?"

Alicia nodded – she really didn't feel like talking right now. Just silently bask in the environment. She knew that Dusty had good reasons to want to get away from Earth, but right now, all she cared about was seeing the ocean.

* * *

The tour had gone quickly. Major Teldy had been very thorough and even made mention that she liked the fact that more women were showing up with combat experience. Alicia was indifferent to it, but if it helped morale then why not? She'd put up with the catcalls of marines and Air Force cadets alike – not that she was all that interested.

She had just finished up the important part of the tour – where and how to use the transporters – when Major Teldy received a message. Captain Vega had been requested to go up to Colonel Carter's office. Dusty had given her a worried look, but Alicia wasn't worried. Her record was untouchable and besides, she'd worked with SG-1 before.

Alicia took pride in that she didn't get lost on her way to Colonel Carter's office – though she'd need help finding her quarters. More than a few people gave her looks as she walked through the city – to this point she'd only given acknowledgements and honorifics. This place had a strange first impression of making her very quiet.

Sergeant Campbell did her the favor of showing her where Colonel Carter's office was once she got back to the control room. More supplies and tours were going on even as she walked across the little bridge to the glass ensconced office. Alicia noticed three people already inside, Colonel Carter, Colonel Sheppard, and someone she recognized as Ronon Dex.

Alicia opened the door and saluted briskly. "Sirs, I was asked to come here?"

Colonel Carter nodded, but didn't get up from her desk. Colonel Sheppard sat on an armchair while Ronon took up half the couch. Carter motioned to her. "You can shut the door, Captain." Alicia did as she was told, but kept at attention. Carter noticed and said. "You can stand at ease. You're not in trouble."

Alicia relaxed and held her hands behind her back. "Ma'am."

"I called you here because I think you're perfectly suited to something we've got in mind." Carter explained. "You are briefed on Atlantis' current situation regarding refugees and SG teams, correct?"

"Yes Ma'am." She paused, but then saw that Carter wanted her to recite them. She went back and thought about the initial briefing at the SGC. "The refugees that are currently in Atlantis comprise the maximum amount of humanitarian relief Atlantis can provide. Any more refugees are to be directed to potentially safe planets to hide from the Replicators or Wraith. Our off-world operations are limited to those necessary for Atlantis' welfare."

"Exactly." Carter replied. "However, Colonel Sheppard has brought up a very valid point. We need to inform the people of this galaxy that Atlantis cannot take them in."

Alicia furrowed her brow. "Ma'am?"

Sheppard smirked. "Well we can't exactly let people know we can't take them in without meeting them. That requires an off-world team."

The briefing had been _very _clear. Alicia didn't really know how to reply. Thankfully Carter smirked and explained. "Relax Captain. I know the IOA sent you and the majority of that platoon you came with for policing duties here, but I have something more exciting in mind for you." She motioned to Ronon. "Meet Ronon Dex, your new CO. I've given Ronon a field commission to the rank of Major, though any USAF or Marine equivalents will still outrank him. This is for your benefit."

Ronon stood to his full stature. Alicia knew that Ronon was a warrior kind of person, but she hadn't realized he was so tall. "Vega. What kind of action have you seen?"

Alicia gulped – what had she walked into. "I've served in the 786th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron in Iraq – I provided base security while the rest of my brigade arrived. Afterwards I was seconded to the 173rd Airborne Brigade as a temporary loan." Alicia blinked a few ties, realizing that Ronon didn't understand a word of it. "I've served as a sniper, squad designated marksman and spotter. I specialized in base security during the last large scale war on my planet. One of the only combat roles I could take being a woman."

Ronon snorted. "Easy enough." He turned to Carter. "You sure?"

Carter nodded. "I'm sure. Captain Vega was promoted to the SGC after her exemplary record in Iraq. She served with honor in our conflict with the Ori and has demonstrated the abilities and skills to reach the rank of Captain. She was part of a mission SG-1 took part in dealing with an off-world security threat as well. I have no doubt she'll be a fine addition to your humanitarian team."

Now Alicia was truly confused. Why were they sending a sharpshooter on a- _Oh. I get it. _"Ma'am, respectfully?"

"Go ahead."

"I'm not entirely sure what you're asking me."

Carter smiled and looked up to Ronon. "I don't have time to be vague, so I'll be direct. I refuse to let the people of this galaxy suffer needlessly at the hands of the Wraith or Replicators. Both Colonel Sheppard and I have very limited time to lead teams, as does Major Lorne or Teldy. Ronon has tremendous experience fighting the Wraith and I have my full confidence that you will be of great assistance."

Sheppard had lost his smirk and looked at Alicia intently. "What do you think, Captain? Do you want to stay here on Atlantis and be security again, or do you want to go help people?"

Not exactly a fair question, but Alicia could see the benefit of it. "Respectfully sir, I'll follow the orders of my superiors." She looked at Ronon and nodded. "I'm in. Though I do have a request."

"Oh?" Ronon raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. He turned to Carter. "You were right. She is bold." He turned back. "Go ahead."

Alicia fought the blush – praise from Samantha Carter was praise indeed. "I respectfully request that Sergeant Mehra come along as well. I've worked with her closely and I can vouch for her completely in this matter."

Sheppard and Carter gave each other a quick look before Carter turned to her. "I think we can manage that." She turned to Ronon. "I think you should go get acquainted with your team. I'll find a technical soldier for you as well. We should have received several in this batch of soldiers and I need to vet them first."

_I've been 'vetted?' _– "Thank you Ma'am."

"No, thank you Captain." Carter replied. "You're dismissed. Go find your quarters and get situated. I'm sure Ronon will be glad to show you around."

* * *

John watched with more than a little amusement how Captain Vega saluted and left the room, Ronon in tow. He waited till the door was closed to turn to Sam. "You sure about her? She seems a little uptight."

Sam chuckled and rolled her eyes. "If you get the chance, ask Colonel Mitchell about her. That woman took out the Queen of Hearts in Iraq while on _base security. _She recognized him from a long distance and hunted him down, tagged him in the leg and dragged him to a friendly convoy. I think she still has that playing card. That kind of initiative would have gotten her in trouble if we weren't looking for soldiers to fight the Ori."

"I see." John sighed. If the IOA thought that security specialists were needed… "I guess that means most of the new crew is the same?"

"Yep." Sam replied. "Most are newer to the program, but I knew Captain Vega would be more trustworthy. We're running out of soldiers we can trust with more controversial missions and we're going to have to start vetting them."

John rose to his feet and nodded. "I can do that. You've got enough on your plate." He turned and nodded to Sam. "Thanks for this. I think it'll help us a lot in the long term if we at least try and do what we can."

Sam nodded and sighed. "I just wish we could do more."

John wished that as well.

_**March 16**__**th**__**, 2008  
Atlantis, Colonel Carter's Office**_

Dr. Jennifer Keller couldn't help but notice that Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard was already inside Colonel Samantha Carter's office awaiting her. She knew that the Lieutenant Colonel was insistent on her having an escort for this mission of mercy, but it wasn't the first time she'd been off world. She nodded to them both as she entered the room. "Morning."

Both Colonels nodded and waved her to sit down. Sheppard began. "We've been going over your report on M5V-801…"

"…About their air quality and the tremors they keep having…" Carter continued.

"… You know, things that don't really make for the best homes." Sheppard added, a lollipop in his hand made it hard to take him seriously.

Jennifer had to resist laughing. It was like watching a sitcom or something with the way they finished sentences. "Yes, Major Lorne accompanied me last time and well… they weren't that keen on taking up our offer of sanctuary without some assurance that we don't have some ulterior motive. They've heard a lot from their trade partners and well…"

"Yes…? And well?" Carter kept her voice calm, almost reassuring.

Jennifer sighed.. Hearing about it from the people in the village was _not_ something that she wanted to recount. "Well, it turns out that the Genii actually took over that planet about twenty years ago and sort of put them to work in the mines."

Sheppard instantly bristled. The Genii had set ambush parties on several planets and it was only their extensive training and luck that kept AR teams alive nowadays. "So they're not too trusting of outsiders?"

"To put it mildly." Jennifer nodded. "They've got a list of demands a mile and a half long."

Carter groaned softly and sighed as well. "What do they want?" before Jennifer could answer, she raised her hand and stopped her. "Wait… it doesn't matter. I'm too busy to get involved anyway. More Travelers are arriving today and the Daedalus is going out on a mission." She looked to Sheppard. "Think you can handle one negotiation?"

A soft groan left Colonel Sheppard's mouth. "Uhh, negotiating with alien settlements is _not_ what I joined the air force for…" He looked up to Carter who gave him an expectant glare. Jennifer could see the realization in his eyes that he had to do it. "Oh alright, can I take a Jumper at least?" Carter continued the glare, seemingly arguing with him telepathically. John got up and used the lollipop he was sucking on to emphasize his movements. "Right. I'll just get our gear ready. Excuse me."

As he scampered out of Sam's office, Jennifer noted that it wasn't the only lollipop in the room. Sam had one on her desk too.

'_Meh… guess Sheppard was feeling generous.'_

**Pegasus Planet, Under Wraith Attack  
Area surrounding Stargate**

Ronon watched as the strike team moved out in the way he had taught – The rank and file marines moved forward and spread – single shot stunners would be less effective against a wide formation. A few Wraith had been near the gate, but they'd quickly been taken down by mass fire.

His team indeed were combat hardened. He watched as Captain Vega surveyed the area around them – much like him she was very aware of what was going on and pointed out potential threats. Sergeant Mehra on the other hand was like a second set of eyes behind him at all times. She'd covered him during raid after raid, giving Ronon the chance to properly lead their team.

Their technical specialist wasn't what he'd expected. Ronon had been thinking they'd give him a scientist like McKay, but instead Carter had pulled a Combat Engineer from the Marines who'd arrived. Lieutenant Dan Drake. To his surprise, he took to the position like flowing water – smoothly.

This planet was in the process of being culled. The Wraith were hitting any targets that remained and Carter had kept an eye on them using Atlantis' sensors. This planet was being hit by a Cruiser and Daedalus was on the way.

Ronon and his team had a simple mission – kill _all _the Wraith. With the strike team comprising of heavily armed men with launchers to take down Darts, snipers like Vega, and purebred soldiers like Ronon and Mehra, the Wraith didn't stand a chance.

Ronon screamed his orders. "Move out and stay under cover! Draw as many Wraith into the open and cut them down!"

The marines simply gave him an '_Oorah' _– Ronon liked _Oorah_.

_**Pegasus Planet (?)**_

_**Dr. Rodney McKay**_

"Tell me the address to Atlantis… _Now!"_ Rodney tried to fight the grip of the Wraith holding him, but the steel that made up his arms wouldn't budge at all despite thrashing. The Wraith menacingly ran his fingers along Rodney face. "Your friends were delectable, and while I have had my fill, I would not mind a dessert."

Rodney couldn't stop the tears in his eyes. Why was this happening? "You're just gonna kill me anyway…"

The Wraith tossed Rodney to the ground with a growl. "You have use. None of these…" he motioned to Major Lorne's team around him, all dead with the Major himself having fought to the death, being the lucky one who wasn't fed on, "…are any use beyond food. So tell me, What is the address to Atlantis?"

The entire team knew the address, why had the Wraith singled out him? "You might as well kill me, because I'll never…"

The Wraith slammed his feeding palm into Rodney's chest in a hammer punch.

* * *

In the real world, Talia now empathized with the human suffering of Rodney McKay. It had taken weeks worth of compiling and analyzing, but finally she had the machine equivalent of the human emotions Dr McKay was feeling. Perhaps this is what Niam was talking about… certainly it was… different.

But no matter. Dr McKay would give up the address sooner or later. It had become the dam to which the flow of his knowledge would eventually spill through. Oberoth ran new programs every few hours now, it was estimated that at most another day would be needed to completely change his brain chemistry to allow full memory extraction.

Just a matter of time.

_**M5V-801, Forest near Gate**_

_**En Route to Village**_**  
**

"So how was your trip back to Earth?"

John resisted rolling his eyes at Doctor Keller's question. "It was for my father's wake."

"Oh." Keller winced as she realized the faux pas. John noticed the young Marine who came with them shake his head idly. Not that he minded Keller, but she just seemed a bit… young. "Yeah, well. I'm sorry for your loss. I just thought that well, you know… Earth?"

This time John did indeed roll his eyes; he turned and noticed the other two marines trailing behind to watch for any Genii ambush. "Yeah I know. It was fine. Nothing new going on there. It's just Earth." He made no mention of his fifty thousand dollar night out – or any of the other requisitions he'd put through with the rest of his inheritance.

The grassy field they were walking in was pleasant, just like most of the planets they'd been to. In fact John felt a certain sense of calm here… something he enjoyed about his typical everyday life in Pegasus... at least before the shit hit the fan.

"Oh… well at least you and Sam managed to convince the IOA to keep hearing us out."

John was about to reply when his next step crumbled beneath him. John yelped as he tried to regain his balance but instead fell forward. A moment later followed by Jennifer's screams. "Colonel Sheppard!"

He only fell for a moment before feeling a loud crunch against his torso – the world had gone black and the taste of must and soil knocked the wind out of him on impact. He'd fallen a good twenty feet and landed on some kind of crates that had shattered upon impact. He turned over and saw Keller's head poking out from the hole he'd fallen through. John tried to yell as he saw more dirt crumble in.

All that came out was a hoarse gasp - The sound of one of the Marines behind her screaming _'No!'_ didn't help either, and a moment later Jennifer came down as well, unfortunately right on top of John as he lay on the broken crates.

Unlike John's yelp, Jennifer screamed at the sudden drop and groaned loudly as she hit the ground. The crates he'd landed on gave way even more, both of them spilling out the side and onto the ground. John felt a sharp stabbing pain in his side and grit his teeth in a half-scream. Instantly his vision blurred and his mind went fuzzy.

Keller recovered after a minute, and John's radio began to squawk. _"Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Keller, come in!"_

John wanted to reply, but all that would come out was a repressed howl of anguish, and now as he looked down he saw why… and so did Keller. The doctor's voice became hushed as she recovered from the fall. "Oh my god… Colonel!"

A rather large shard of the wooden crate had stabbed itself into his side, along with dozens of splinters along his body from the stale old wood. Keller had come through nearly unscathed, as John had somehow instinctively protected her during their tumble.

John fought past the blinding pain and leaned back. "Oh, well that's just _perfect_!" Finally the strength to speak coherently came back to him and he grabbed his radio. "This is Colonel Sheppard, we're here…"

To his shock, Keller snatched the radio from his hands and spoke with a confidence he hadn't expected. "Marine! This is Doctor Keller! Colonel Sheppard has been wounded and we need immediate assistance from Atlantis! Go back, get a jumper and bring a rapid response medical team with you, over!"

John tried to get up, but feeling the wood begin to grind against his stomach let a loud groan out as he also yelled. "_Arrgh… _Do it Marine! We'll be okay, just go!"

"_Sir_, _yes sir!"_

The signal cut out, and Keller finally found her medical pack. "Oh great, this is just great." She muttered as she checked her equipment. "Stupid klutz, someone falls down and what do you do? You chase them down!"

The endorphin rush was helping and John couldn't help but laugh. "I can _hear_ you!"

Keller turned an exasperated face back to him and finally fished out the medical supplies she wanted. "Oh, I just… God I mutter sometimes _okay_? Now come on, let's see how bad it is."

She set up beside him on top of the crates and cut away at his uniform. The dust hadn't even completely settled yet before John could feel the needleless injection in his deltoid. It still stung though. "Ow, the hell was that?"

"Ciprofloxacin."

John flinched and regretted it from the pain in his side, "What? _Urgh… _Cipro? _Anthrax?_"

"Calm down." Keller replied. "Cipro is just a really strong anti-biotic. I doubt there's Anthrax here but god knows what there is. I'm not risking you getting an infection." She looked around, John could tell she was trying to figure out where they were and not coming up with any answers..

"Oh." John replied as he lay back. "Well that's _mildly_ reassuring. Now can we do something about the _jagged piece of wood in my gut?"_

_**Atlantis, Gate Room**_

Sam stepped down towards the gate room and almost ran as she embraced her long time friend. The wormhole continued behind him as soldiers and workers came through – some to stay and some to help take resources back to Earth. "Daniel! So glad you're here."

Daniel chuckled softly and put his bag down. He gave Sam a friendly hug. "Hey Sam, you're not the only one." He looked up and around and sighed in contemplative bliss. "I missed this place."

Sam nodded and pulled him up towards the stairs. The latest relief supplies were being carted through the stargate and Sam had no intention of getting Daniel caught up in that. Sam led Daniel into the control room where several of the technicians gave him nods of salute. They watched as more relief supplies came through the gate, but Sam also downloaded a schematic of Atlantis onto a tablet for Daniel's usage. "I figured with all the chaos in this galaxy right now, the IOA would want to send more people to explore the city."

"Yeah well, here's hoping things improve." Daniel said. "Jack's still working to get the IOA to see things your way and let you evacuate these people, I'll do what I can as well." Daniel looked back at the gate and saw the truckloads of supplies moving through. "Is it just me or is that like a million times more than what you actually need?"

Sam looked at the truckloads worth of supplies and smiled faintly. "Gotta be prepared." She smiled and turned to Daniel. "Apparently, some _crazy_ philanthropist caught wind of relief supplies the USAF was building up and decided to donate almost twenty million dollars. It took a little convincing, but we're getting it all in the next few days as relief supplies that we're going to stockpile."

Daniel seemed floored by the news. "Twenty… Holy. Who was it?"

A quick blink, and Sam decided to give John some anonymity… at least from all but her. "Ohh… just some crazy millionaire, don't think anyone really knows him." As strange as the sentence was, Sam agreed. She really hadn't known John before that night.

Daniel just gave her a disbelieving look back. "Uh huh, right."

_**Genii Mining Facilty**_

"Alright… I'm gonna have to leave that thing in there for now." Keller said as she finished cleaning up and removing smaller splinters along John's side. "Hopefully we'll have you back in Atlantis soon so we can put you under for surgery."

John tried to keep from moving; the numbness was starting to wear off. "Yeah, guess it's keeping the bleeding from getting bad huh?"

"Yep." Keller got another injection ready and aimed for his neck. "This should help you with the pain."

John winced at the sharp feeling. "Ow. What was that_?_"

"Amynitriptalyne… it should dull the pain pretty fast."

"Don't have any morphine?"

"Sorry. I was out actually and we were waiting for the latest shipment from Earth for more."

Try as he might, the laughs came out and John groaned in pain ever as he huffed in amusement. Keller narrowed her eyes and looked at him oddly. "You shouldn't be feeling narcotic effects, maybe your endorphins have kicked in."

John shook his head and then nodded. "Yeah, yeah let's call it that."

Keller took a moment to gather her things before getting up. She looked around and kicked away the broken pieces of crate. "So… you have any clue what this place might be?"

John looked around even as he now lay against another somewhat dilapidated crate. He saw two doors nearby, one red and one blue. Familiar symbols decorated both. "Genii, this must have been one of their mining facilities."

"Well, we'll have you outta here in no time." Keller turned back and smiled awkwardly at him. John had noticed she had a great bedside manner in Atlantis, but seemed very out of it in the field. "Just stay calm and try not to move too much."

"I wasn't planning on it…" He thought about it for a second, and seeing the field bandages surrounding his wound, did the estimate. "Thirty minutes to the gate, ten to gear up, another ten to get us out on a Jumper." He sighed and tried to calm down his heart rate. "I'm not back in Atlantis for another hour on the inside, it's gonna be close."

Keller pursed her lips and tried to look away. "Figures you know about injuries. I wish I had some adrenaline but the best I have are caffeine pills. As long as you don't pull that thing out, you should be okay for a few hours."

"Nah, nah I know." John held still for a moment, wondering what the hell he was going to do for a whole hour.

Evidently, Keller figured they'd _talk._ "So uh… other than your father's wake, how was your trip to Earth?"

_**Pegasus Planet, Village under Wraith Threat**_

The strike had gone as effective as Ronon could wish. The Wraith were caught off guard and the majority of them had been ripped apart by mass fire from the Marine's weaponry. The few darts in the area were easily swatted out of the sky by the Stinger and LAW launchers they'd brought with the,.

The cruiser in orbit hadn't put up much of a fight for Daedalus – No sooner than Ronon had gotten the message that Daedalus had arrived that Caldwell radioed that it was down. Daedalus was still badly damaged – but a cruiser was no threat.

In fact, the fight hadn't lasted long at all. The only snag was the one Wraith Commander left who'd decided to take a hostage inside a hut. Ronon listened carefully at the door – Merha beside him and Drake in front by the door. Ronon had dealt with Wraith taking hostages before, it had never ended well. He couldn't bear letting what had been a perfect op go south now and knew he had to – as John put it – pull a Hail Mary. He could hear raspy breathing, and the faint sound of muffled cries. Ronon looked over to where Mehra was crouched and made hand signals carefully. First he pointed to her, then made a circle in the air, and pointed inside. He made another gesture to Drake to stay outside – his P90 would be useful in comparison to the Marine's assault rifles. Ronon held his hand up in a fist, then a sharp chopping motion forward. Everyone knew what to do.

Ronon waited a few seconds for Mehra to circle around the hut – the Wraith wasn't getting away. He motioned the closest soldiers to him, ones who weren't busy pulling other villagers away from the potential fight. They stacked up on him and prepared to breach.

The flimsy wooden door was never meant to keep more than the draft and water out. The village was small and likely very familial. They'd had litthad little defense against the Wraith as the Wraith usually didn't go after such a small target. Ronon carefully opened it as he spoke. "I'm coming in! I want to talk! Hold your fire!"

Ronon entered the room carefully – he knew the building was surrounded and the Wraith was going to die, but he needed to save the hostage. He surveyed the area – a mess had been made from the stuggle, and the Wraith in front of him held a young woman in his arms as hostage. The Wraith held his feeding hand to her chest and a stunner in his other hand. The Wraith hissed at Ronon using the woman as cover.

Ronon needed the Wraith to think he might escape. "Let the girl go." The Wraith hissed at Ronon again and made a motion as if he was going to feed, Ronon instantly yelled. "Wait!" With a careful move, Ronon lowered his magnum and tossed it to a nearby chair. He motioned downwards so Drake and the marines behind him lowered their weapons as well. He didn't need a gun to kill a Wraith. "You won't make it out of here alive unless I say so."

The obviously nervous Wraith fidgeted and looked around, keeping his feeding hand over the panicked woman's chest who wept quietly. Her eyes begged Ronon to save her. She couldn't have been more than twenty; Ronon couldn't help but think of all the young ones who had fallen to the Wraith. Ronon himself was in his early thirties, an old man for Pegasus. Fighting the Wraith for so many years had aged him but he'd aged gracefully in combat. Not many people reached his age fighting the Wraith as he did. "I'll make you a deal, I'll tell my men to let you through. You can live if you're smart."

"Why should I trust you?_"_ The Wraith snarled. "You'll kill me regardless. But I can make her pay for your hubris."

Ronon held his hands up – this needed to end soon. "I swear it. These men follow me and if I give them an order, they'll obey."

"You will just shoot me as soon as I let her go."

"No." Ronon said – in truth he was being honest. "I swear on my life and honor that my men will let you pass." Ronon reached slowly for his radio – the Wraith watched carefully as Ronon spoke. "This is Ronon. I want you all to back off and clear a way to the Stargate. There's a Wraith with a hostage here and we're going to let him pass. Do not open fire on him – That's a direct order."

It took longer than Ronon wanted, but he received acknowledgments. Behind him, he heard Drake and the Marines fall back. Ronon shook his head, this couldn't happen… not again. "See? We've already killed the rest of you. I'm not being merciful either, I want you to go back to your queen and tell them what happened here. I think that's more than a fair trade." Ronon snarled softly.

The Wraith narrowed his eyes and stared. Ronon kept his hands up – ready for anything. "You do sound genuine, but your plan will backfire. My queen will target you for this insult."

"That's the plan." Ronon replied harshly. "But you can live today, if you choose."

* * *

Dusty could hear everything going on inside the hut. She waited on the other side waiting for any potential escape attempt. She had to follow Ronon's orders though and kept her gun ready only for self defense.

What she hadn't expected was a man sized hole to suddenly shatter like a frag grenade beside her. She flung herself back and rolled to protect herself, but she heard Ronon screaming in rage. By the time she got back to her feet, she saw Ronon and the Wraith grappling through the broken wall of the hut.

The Wraith howled and screamed. _"Coward! Treacherous coward!"_

Ronon unsheathed his sword like some kind of barbarian warrior and screamed a battle cry – Dusty watched in amazement as Ronon swung forward – easily severing the Wraiths' feeding hand. He then kicked the Wraith in the stomach sending it flying back into a cart breaking the wheels and injuring the Wraith further.

It rolled off and swung at Ronon who deftly dodged it. Ronon sliced again – cutting the Wraith's back and then bringing the hilt of his sword down on its neck. The Wraith crumpled to the ground, but still swung blindly trying to hit Ronon.

Ronon flipped his sword in his hands and drove it down like a stake into the Wraith's back. It went right through the Wraith's body – Dusty couldn't believe what she was seeing – she'd heard Ronon could be brutal but the efficiency was unbelievable. The rest of the marines just covered him- no one saying a word.

Ronon yanked his sword out, blood sprayed along the ground from the Wraith's open wounds as he stood on its knees. Any human would have been dead by now. Ronon circled the Wraith and flipped the sword again, this time winding up like a baseball player. Dusty heard him hiss as the Wraith spit at him. "I never said _I _wouldn't kill you."

Dusty winced just slightly as Ronon swung forward and decapitated the Wraith – its head rolled around signaling the end of the battle. From inside, she could hear a woman crying and begging for her parents. Dusty couldn't help but think of her own parents, and how proud they'd be if they'd known she was part of this effort to help people in need.

_**Atlantis, Gate Room**_

Sam had always known that Daniel was one of the nicest people she'd ever met. She trusted the archeologist with her life, and while she would never tell him, had shed more than one tear when he had died from radiation poisoning. His subsequent return(s) made her a little more appreciative of his friendship.

It made sense to her that Daniel would fit in instantly here in Atlantis, he was an expert on cultural differences, and he was always learning new languages and customs. As a result, Sam felt a little stupid for being a little surprised to see Daniel sitting and having a chat with Teyla in the mess hall. "Hey. Looks like you're getting ahead of yourself, I was gonna give you the grand tour."

Both Daniel and Teyla smiled, with the latter motioning for her to sit. "Colonel Carter, would you like to join us? Daniel has been telling me of the many cultures he has encountered and I am telling him of the ones I have encountered here in Pegasus."

Sam could tell Teyla was just being polite, and Daniel's inside look of _'you'll be bored stiff'_ was a godsend. She'd have plenty of time to talk to Daniel later and politely shook her head. "I'd love to, but I've actually got to meet with Larrin to discuss where we're going to put all her people. In fact if you could meet me in my office in say, 2 hours to discuss food distribution to the refugees?"

Teyla nodded and politely replied "Of course Colonel Carter. I shall see you soon."

"See you Daniel."

"See you Sam."

It was honesty, and Sam moved forward with a purpose. Having twenty Traveler cruisers and about thirty frigates docking with Atlantis was a big worry in her mind, but her stress level was at a manageable place… mostly thanks to John and his sheer insistence on having fun that last night in DC.

* * *

"So you were telling me about some of the cultures you've met here working with the refugees."

Teyla smiled, it was so refreshing to speak to someone with interests that more or less matched her own. But while cultural study and communication was just a fact of life for her, Daniel had made it his career. The way he fought and worked to protect his people reminded her of her own life – just in a different way.

She had absolutely no problem speaking of cultural rituals with him, not at all like John with his comparisons to football or Will Farrel or… "Ah yes.. I believe we were at the Ahzoti. They are a hunter society, many of them are trained from youth in the art of hunting and fighting. Those that do not meet their standard of hunter by the age of 8 are instead groomed to be support for the hunters. They become builders, traders, and some even leave once they come of age and spread stories of the hunt."

Daniel found it all very fascinating, and he used his knowledge of earth culture to find parallels. "That's actually not too dissimilar to Spartan culture on Earth. Many millennia ago, one of the peoples that dotted our world were the Spartans. They would groom every boy from birth to be a warrior whose highest honor would be to die for their country in glorious combat."

"And hold back an army of immortal Persians." Teyla added – maybe some of what John told her had use.

Daniel started to chuckle and shook his head. "Oh, You've seen 300."

Teyla rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I have had the displeasure. It is Ronon's favorite movie. In truth while it was entertaining to watch, I doubt the men were that skilled or dramatic."

Daniel shrugged and shook his head. "Well actually, while the movie was over the top, the real story pretty much happened that way. Three hundred Spartans held off a significantly larger number of Persians at Thermopylae using superior tactics, training, and technology. Of course there were about a thousand others there who weren't Spartans. The movie even shows them at one point, but that fact usually gets pushed aside for the ideal."

Teyla nodded and narrowed her eyes. "I had assumed as much. It is an inspirational story."

LINEBREAK

Ever since meeting Teyla back during the Ori Invasion, Daniel had found that it was surprisingly easy to read Teyla through her words, or rather the way she chose them. He quietly added. "Sort of like we're doing here?"

Teyla hesitated a moment and nodded. "Many of the people taking refuge in Atlantis would be dead if not for Colonel Carter and Sheppard's insistence to your IOA."

"Yeah, I've heard about that." Daniel was silent a moment and continued. "On that point, the IOA has been in talks with the Jaffa about setting a planet apart for the refugees. It's not a sure thing, but hopefully with my report, they'll see that we need to help these people."

Raising an eyebrow, Teyla asked. "Report?"

Feeling a little ashamed, Daniel shirked back. "Yeah… part of the conditions I came here on. In fact if the IOA had their way I'd spend every waking hour translating the database here looking for weapons, ships, energy sources."

"I take it that is not something you'd like to do?"

Daniel rolled his eyes, and replied quickly. "Gee, do I make it that obvious?" He chuckled a bit and held his hand up. "Sorry, I hang out with a crotchety old General back home. I love him to death but he's a terrible influence on me."

Teyla rolled her eyes in a likewise gesture. "I know the feeling, Colonel Sheppard has introduced me to the concept of sarcasm, and before…" Teyla stopped for a moment. Daniel could tell that Teyla had to think for a moment before speaking."…before Asuras, Rodney was a treasure trove of information."

Seeing that it was getting a little awkward, Daniel decided he'd acknowledge it, and set it aside. "Yeah, I heard about that. Sam tells me that Dr. McKay had really become someone exceptional. I never really knew him all that well but after what I've heard. I wish I did."

"Yes, I believe you would have found him interesting."

_**Pegasus Planet(?)  
Dr. Rodney McKay  
**_

"Rodney, you okay there?"

"I'm bleeding out and probably going septic! How do you think I am Colonel Obvious?" Rodney barked back. Exhaustion, pain, rage, all alongside the gash the Wraith Drone had given him with his Stunner Rifle

Sheppard rolled his eyes, peeked over the rock they were using for cover and nodded to Ronon. "Looks like your standard Wraith hunting party… must have culled the village we were going to."

Rodney, still not hearing that he was going to get taken care of, held the field dressings to his wound and grimaced as his blood crawled over his hands. "Excuse me? Dying man here? Blood flowing freely and…"

"Quiet." Ronon turned and shushed him harshly. "They're close…"

Not bothering to look over the rock, Rodney instead tried to remain calm. Ronon and Sheppard would take care of him, he'd get back to Atlantis, and get out of this surreal place.

* * *

Oberoth began to smile faintly. His hand inside Rodney's head could begin to feel that the connections the man's brain were making finally giving up. His brain had become a complete peer to peer network – similar to what evolution would have naturally done, but with none of the harmful effects it would normally have. That meant he had the same unlimited access – no more mental firewalls to impede him.

Talia watched nearby, monitoring the Doctor's life signs. Certainly anyone else at this level of potential brain activity would be at risk of organ failure, but the Doctor's mind had created so many connections that it could handle both the mental and physical aspects of his body.

He would figure it out this time as well, Doctor McKay would figure it out, but soon… soon he it would be a simple matter to extract the knowledge Oberoth wanted.

* * *

"_Lorne! NOW!"_

From his hidden position on the side of the treeline, Major Lorne stepped out with his Stinger missile launcher already shouldered. Rodney limped what little he could, the Wraith's knife had snagged his calf and even though John had done what he could, it still hurt _terribly_.

The Dart zooming ahead began to strafe them, its small plasma cannons firing again and again shooting up spurts of dirt and stone showering the team. John and Ronon both fired blindly, hoping to score a lucky hit as they half carried/half dragged Rodney back to the gate. Major Lorne's team took defensive positions, holding off the Wraith advance with their P90s.

John and Ronon gently laid Rodney down next to the DHD and went to join the battle line. Lorne's missile launcher spat out it's contents and the infrared seeking missile zoomed out and turned one of the Darts soaring overhead into molten organic shrapnel. Rodney could swear he saw the pilot flailing about as he fell to the ground.

Atlantis, home, infirmary, Keller's midas touch. Yes, That's what Rodney needed. The others were holding the line. Rodney had to get them home.

He hit one button and wondered… what was so wrong about this? Was it the Wraith? Where had they come from so suddenly? Was there a Hive or Cruiser in orbit?

The next button, must have been an ambush. The Wraith had been after him for such a long time… Third button. The glow seemed off… maybe there was something wrong with the DHD… even as Rodney dropped his hand on the fourth it seemed… strange.

Before he reached for the fifth one, something in his head drew the line, the pain in his calf… where was it?

He looked down, unsure of what to do… and realized that even though he was a clear target for all the Wraith in the air and in the field… they weren't shooting at him. "Wha… oh my. _No… no oh god…this… this isn't…"_

Suddenly yanked out of the virtual reality, Rodney felt himself on his knees. The memories of what the Replicators had spent almost two months doing to him flooded back . Oberoth picked him up from his collar, he'd lost weight from his rudimentary diet of intravenous nutrients and was light as a feather to the Replicator. "You shall give me what I want. You will not resist me for long."

The imposing replicator tossed Rodney to the side. He was numb to the pain – it had nothing to do with endurance in fact he'd just succumbed to it and it was just another part of his existence. Just like every time they pulled their hands out, all the memories and pain came back.

He was dying. The only reason Rodney hadn't died was the replicators who forced him to stay alive… stay in one piece so they could take everything he was and subvert it.

Nothing was the same anymore. Rodney didn't know whether he'd ever be able to go home… the agonizing pain of what they'd put him through was enough to make him regret ever having come here.

Even as he sobbed, now in the empty room, he wondered what had happened to Atlantis. Why hadn't they come for him?

Of course he knew why, they assumed he was dead, and from the looks of it, they'd be right sooner rather than later.

A figure entered, and Rodney mentally braced himself for the shock of having a hand inserted into his head again. Instead, a blanket was unceremoniously dropped on top of him.

Rodney looked up and saw the replicator who had done damage to him, even questioned him personally.. _"Wh…why?"_

Talia didn't respond, and after a moment of staring simply turned and walked away.

_**Genii Mining Facility**_

"That's it?"

John shrugged softly, moving at all hurt like hell and he just concentrated on breathing. "Pretty much, boring bunch those IOA people are." He wasn't about to tell her about his non-date with Sam. Not to mention he just didn't really feel comfortable with Keller – she hadn't been on Atlantis for very long.

Keller sat next to him and sighed. "Guess I was expecting something a lot more than that. I mean-" She hesitated a moment, then shook her head. "Oh never mind."

"Hmm, What was that?"

"Oh, no nothing."

John hated when people hid their opinions. Especially so blatantly. "What? Oh come on, we've got another 30 or so minutes till they get back, I'm high as a kite and we're stuck in a broken down old Genii mining facility, might as well say what's on your mind."

Keller's voice raised an octave. "No, nothing on my mind."

"Doc!"

She looked back and then sighed. "Oh alright, but I don't know, I really shouldn't tell you."

"Tell me what?"

Keller pursed her lips. "Ronon said he missed not going with you. He thought once you were done with your family stuff, you'd take him to have some fun."

John thought about it, and deciding not to answer just yet since her words brought back a memory, he asked a lateral question. "You talk to Ronon?"

"Well yeah." Keller looked oddly serious now. "Ever since he got back me and him have, well he's been teaching me to spar a little and I've been…"

John nodded, he'd seen Ronon in a strange state of half-viciousness, half calm. "I thought I noticed he was acting different."

"I… I don't know what to think really." Keller explained. The stammering was back and John understood she was nervous. "I hardly knew him before but, I guess we just got to talking and…"

John let her drift off and instead thought to himself. Ronon had told him just a little of his life before becoming a runner. What little he did know about his relationships told him that Keller may have just reminded him a little too much of a place he once thought of as home.

_**Atlantis, Colonel Carter's Office**_

"Wow, how long would it take to repair them?"

Sam was looking over the plans Larrin had presented her. It detailed repairing the Lantean Plasma Turrets along the taller towers in Atlantis using her engineering corp and materials. The Expedition knew they were there, but only recently had they begun to have enough power to reach orbital ranges.

Larrin tapped on the desk. "A few weeks at least on the outside. If we're going to be living here now it seems we can repurpose some of our ship's components and people. My engineers tell me that since we're not using our Naquadah to fly our ships, we've got a few months supply to keep the base running at two thirds power in conjunction with your zero point energy module in case we're attacked."

That was surprising to hear. Sam looked up at Larrin and narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure? I mean, those are your homes aren't they? And that's _a lot_ of Naquadah."

Larrin turned from her standing position and scoffed softly. "Yeah, our homes are giant bulleyes for the Wraith and Replicators. I'm not nearly as stupid as Sheppard seems to think I am. We need you and I'm gonna make damn sure you need us."

It was an interesting way to put it. Sam could see that Larrin was offering everything the Travelers had in order to survive. Sam tried to put herself in those shoes but found them too big to fill. "Well, you don't have to worry about me or Colonel Sheppard. We're not going to run away any time soon, and we're still awaiting the decision from our governments on whether or not we can evacuate; your people included."

Larrin huffed an annoyed sigh and sat down. "Well, sorry if I don't trust you as much as I do Sheppard, least I know he'll go down fighting."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Sam asked worriedly.

Larrin smiled with a hint of deviousness. "When you spend time with someone even if he's your prisoner." She stopped for a moment and looked at Sam apologetically. "Sorry about that by the way."

Sam sighed. "Forgiven when you brought him back. Go on."

"Well, you get to know a person when you're that close." Larrin chuckled and shook her head rubbing her temple. "You know he told my council to screw off after that whole thing? He tore into them like _he _was in charge, like he wasn't a prisoner. It was incredible to watch."

Sam smiled, and recalled what she'd heard from Jack about the IOA and John's hearing. "He pretty much did the same to the IOA council, although they didn't listen to him nearly as much." Larrin winced and swayed a bit and Sam noticed it wasn't in sympathy. "You okay?"

Larrin shook it off and nodded. "Yeah, just a little gravity sickness. We've been living in artificial gravity for so long, our bodies find fluctuating gravity kind of disorienting." She breathed in deeply. "I'm gonna go make sure my people are settling in. Find me if you need more information."

Sam nodded and looked down once more at the design, it would certainly turn Atlantis into more a castle fortress then an island city, but then again, that's what they needed now. The Lanteans obviously weren't a warrior race, and the city showed just what they valued in their culture. Science, technology, not war. In Sam's mind, Atlantis would be woefully undefended if not for the massively overpowered shield that could block even the most grievous blows.

It was a strange thing really, Atlantis's shields were quire different from the standard Asgard Shields. Instead of a constantly charging capacitor that fed energy to the shield when it took fire, the Atlantean shield siphoned power directly from the main energy grid. It was an interesting trade off in physics terms. It meant that as long as the city had power, the shields would stay up no matter what. The con was that because it drew from the main power grid, extended duration would eat away their complete power reserves. That was what had defeated the Lanteans during the siege ten thousand years ago, and that was the worry in Sam's mind.

* * *

Daniel was on his way across the little bridge to Sam's office when he ran into an attractive brunette leaving. She eyed him up and down as they met. "I know who you are. You're Daniel aren't you?"

Daniel froze mid-step and gave his own look up and down – she was certainly attractive in a slightly aggressive posture. "Hel-_lo_, sorry but do I know you?"

"Larrin." Larrin held her hand out and shook Daniel's replying hand. "I'm a Traveler."

Daniel blinked twice before it came back to him. "Oh that's right. Travelers. You're the leader of the people who live on those generational ships right?" Larrin smiled and nodded. "Well I'm.- I mean I'd love to talk more with you and find out all about your people. We should talk over a meal sometime later."

"Sure." Larrin smiled and scotched past him with a squeeze on the shoulder. "Long as food's only the beginning."

Daniel turned and watched Larrin with what he now realized was more than just a smile. "Yeah we'll umm, we'll talk okay?"

"I'll come findyoulater."

Daniel watched over his shoulder as Larrin walked away. Daniel shivered as he thought to himself that alien women and he mixed only too well. He looked into Sam's office where the Colonel was staring off into the distance with her hand supporting her jaw.

He opened the door and smirked at Sam's non-register of his entrance. "Hey, if you wanted to ascend it takes more than a deep thought."

Sam snapped out of her thoughts, and looked up at Daniel. "Huh? Daniel! What are-" She sighed and shook her head. "Oh never mind, how're you settling in?"

Daniel sat down on the chair in front of Sam and rubbed his hands together. "Oh quite well actually. Teyla's helped me get to know the refugee cultures and how things are working right now_." _He made no mention of Larrin's offer, no sense giving Sam ammunition.

I knew you'd love it here. It's like back when we first started going through the gate. All those new cultures and people."

Daniel picked up the tablet with the schematics for Atlantis on them. Even without a technical background, he could figure out what the glowing dots were. "Technologies." he smirked deviously. "I'm sure you've been having fun with that."

Sam blushed just a little. "Guilty as charged. The Traveler Particle Technology is actually a few steps above the railgun and magnetic casing-"

"You know Sam…" Daniel held up both hands in surrender. "Usually I have no problem listening to you go on like a kid in a candy store." He smirked deviously. "God knows I do the same, but I actually came to see how you're doing."

"I'm fine, Daniel." Sam's voice was defensive despite her words. "As fine as can be expected."

"And that's supposed to mean?" Daniel left it linger before he finished. "What? You're frustrated? You've got a ton of stress and no way to relieve it? Jack told me about the situation here Sam. I know it's not looking good."

Sam put her pen down and looked back at Daniel with a determined expression. Daniel knew Sam wasn't going to give in. "We're still hoping we can think of something. We might not be able to take many more refugees, but Colonel Caldwell's out there and Larrin's promised to…"

"I'm not talking about Caldwell or Larrin." Daniel leaned forward. "I'm worried about you Sam." He didn't bother mentioning Jack was worried too.

Maybe it was the years they'd spent together, but Sam's sigh of almost resignation was followed by. "I'm frustrated. _Really_ frustrated. The IOA's been stonewalling me for months now, and with this whole meeting they're having…" Sam receded back into her chair. "Handling all this paperwork is making my head spin." She shook her head and smiled. "But I'm okay… really. It hasn't gotten to me yet and with any luck it won't."

Daniel nodded, and then decided to be her friend again. "That wouldn't have anything to do with a big panda bear would it?"

"Wha…?" Sam stammered. Her wide eyes were almost amusing. "How did…you couldn't… How?"

Daniel chuckled and said. "Oh Teyla was there in the gateroom when you and Sheppard came back from Earth, Turns out it's kinda hard to sneak something like that past her."

"I've gathered that." Sam's expression turned to a passive aggressive smile. "So, you've been hanging out with Teyla?"

Daniel narrowed his eyes, and shrugged. Sam was on the offensive as a defense. "Of course, she's the cultural expert here. You've been hanging out with Sheppard?"

"Of course, he's the stress relief expert around here."

Both looked at each other for a moment, just waiting for the other to crack first, Sam's lips twitched upwards and Daniel's cheek moved involuntarily. A titter left Daniel's mouth and within seconds both were reduced to fits of giggles.

* * *

_"Unscheduled off-world activation!"_

Sam got up from her desk and moved over to the control room with Daniel on her heels. They'd been discussing how Daniel's mission would be proceeding when the call came in. "Report."

Chuck looked over his shoulder and replied quickly. "Receiving radio transmission. IDC says Colonel Sheppard's team, sir."

Sam nodded and turned on her headset, A voice came through. "_This is Captain Lucas. Atlantis, come in."_

"Captain, this is Colonel Carter, What's wrong?"

"_Ma'am, Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Keller have been trapped in some kind of underground building. The Colonel is wounded and needs immediate medevac."_

Sam drew in a sharp breath and realized that all the AR teams were out on missions. Cadmam and the less combat oriented teams were out gathering food and supplies, while Ronon and the small off-world marine contingent she could trust were attempting to evacuate a village from a Wraith culling – Daedalus had gone with them, which meant Caldwell was busy. That left only base security personnel as potential rescuers – people she wasn't willing to pull when there were six thousand people who needed policing. "Copy that. We'll send a Jumper ASAP. Secure the area and await reinforcements."

"_Copy ma'am, we're experiencing seismic activity, so you might want to hurry."_

Daniel seemed to notice Sam's apprehension, and took her shoulder in his hand. "Sam."

Sam ignored it and continued on her radio. "Copy. Carter out." She keyed in Atlantis's frequency and called out. "This is Colonel Carter to the infirmary, come in."

Daniel moved around Sam and tried to get her attention. "Sam."

Sam stayed silent as she waited for a reply. Sheh didn't have to wait long. _"Marie here, is there a problem?"_

"We have wounded off-world. I need a rapid response team ready and prepared to meet at the Jumper Bay. Does anyone there have the ancient gene?"

_"Uhh, yes ma'am. Orderly Paxton has the gene."_

"Can he fly a Jumper?"

Daniel still looked at Sam curiously; he didn't seem to understand that she was about to leave the city. When he opened his mouth to speak, Sam raised a finger to tell him to be quiet for just a moment. Daniel seemed to appreciate being acknowledged and nodded.

Marie's reply was quick. _"Yes ma'am, everyone with the gene has been given flight training."_

"Good, have your team meet me in the Jumper Bay in ten minutes. I want to set out in no more than fifteen, clear?"

"We'll be there in five, Marie out."

Sam turned to Daniel now that things were rolling. "I'm sorry Daniel. We don't have any teams that can go out now and-"

Now it was Daniel who held his hands up and shushed Sam. "Say no more. Let's go."

Sam couldn't help but smile. Daniel was _always _willing to help. "Come on, we need to gear up." As she led Daniel along, Sam again tapped her earpiece. "Larrin this is Colonel Carter. please come in."

* * *

Larrin had stopped in her walk towards Mila's quarters, she was going to ask her about any chance of getting a significant portion of the fleet to another galaxy seeing as the little engineer had spent some time studying the earth made hyperdrives. If they could get at least the Aurora to fit them all with a good amount of supplies it would make a great backup. Carter's voice on her borrowed headset was the last thing she expected. "Colonel? Uhh, yeah I'm here. What is it?"

"_We've got an emergency off world and I need you to take over operations in the control room." _Carter's voice was serious.

Larrin froze for a moment, "Excuse me?" She looked around – no one was in this area as it had been limited to Atlantis and Traveler engineering and command staff. She whispered. "Sorry, you want me to what?"

_"I need you to come to the control room and oversee city operations for the next few hours. I'm sorry to put you in this position but all of my teams and experienced officers are currently on other assignments."_

"Well get Sheppard to do it." Larrin replied bluntly. This _wasn't _what she was expecting. "Not like he doesn't know how to do it."

Carter didn't reply for a few moments, but then calmly explained. _"Colonel Sheppard is off-world right now. He's the one with the emergency."_

Larrin sighed – John had probably just gotten into a fight with some villagers over looking at some girls tits. "Okay. I guess I can try. What do I need to do?"

"_Come to the control room and work with Sergeant Chuck Campbell, he'll bring you up to speed and advise you. You get that Chuck?"_

Larrin had learned who Chuck was – and how important his work was in terms of keeping communications clear and the flow of the city going. That he was kinda cute was only a bonus. _"Yes Ma-am, I'll be waiting Larrin."_

Larrin shrugged and headed for the nearest transporter. "Alright, I'm coming. What'd Sheppard do this time?"

Carter hesitated again, and then replied. "_Colonel Sheppard's been injured. We don't know how severe but we're sending a Jumper to get him back." _Larrin stopped as she reached the transporter. _John's hurt? _Carter continued. "_We won't be long but we'll probably be indisposed for a few hours. I trust that you'll be able to handle the city for that time."_

It wasn't pedantic. Carter's voice sounded genuine – as did her concern for Sheppard. Larrin just sighed and keyed in the Transporter code. "That man seriously has a magnet for catastrophe."

No reply. Maybe she'd struck a nerve.

_**Genii Mining Facility**_

The tremor that suddenly shook the whole building scared the crap out of both John and Keller. But what really got to John was the way the dirt _had_ to land right on top of him drawing a loud groan of repressed pain.

Once it stopped, Keller was quickly by his side cleaning the wound. John breathed heavily, unbelieving of just how much it hurt. "_Arrgh… For fuck sakes, will_ something _please_ go right just _once _in this _godforsaken galaxy?_"

Keller pulled out her kit again, and got to work redressing the now filthy and bloody field dressing. She took a few deep breaths and looked to John. "Alright, this is gonna hurt, _a lot._ But I have to stop your bleeding as much as I can." She pulled out a foiled bag and ripped it open – Combat Gauze. John knew exactly what she intended to do and knew it was going to hurt _like hell._

John took a few seconds to breath himself and nodded. Keller put the strap of her kit in his mouth – the leather would keep him from hurting himself if he clenched too hard. He wrapped his hands around the sleeves of his jacket and bit down as Keller wrapped the area around the spike in the gauze – gently to start, but then pressed down around it with her hands and wrists.

John's fingers tore into his jacket as the pain washed over his body. He couldn't see anything anymore and the next thing he realized was that the pain had subsided. It had hurt like few things he'd experienced but Keller now gently pressed new dressing on top of the gauze. He's lost maybe a pint of blood – he felt dizzy and a little high. "Did I pass out?"

Keller winced. "Just a little. Sorry." John shook his head and leaned back – his breathing was erratic and he needed to calm down. It was almost a minute before Keller asked. "So hey, you uh, you seeing anyone?"

John looked at Keller's with incredulity. "Really? _Now_?"

"It'll distract you." Keller admitted. "And personally, I like to get to know my patients." John chuckled and laid his head back once more. He didn't want to talk about it. Keller on the other hand. "Oh come on. You're telling me you don't have anyone on Atlantis?"

"_For fuck sakes._" John quietly muttered under his breath, and then loud. "No. I'm not _seeing_ anyone right now. Is this really the time to be...?"

Keller had taken the moment to fish a vial out of her bag and pulled out a pair of pills. She put it to John's mouth along with her canteen. "Take one, it's just GABA, but it might help a bit." She waited for John to accept the pill – silencing him as he swallowed. "So no one huh? I thought you and that Traveler, Larrin." She scoffed softly. "Not to be a gossip, but people do talk about you two."

John rolled his eyes. He wondered what people would think if they found out about his outing with Sam – the _IOA_ might even get involved on that one. Keller's idea of bedside manner was… _interesting. _"I won't lie. I've thought about it."

"Really?" Keller seemed almost surprised – John didn't understand.

"Why not?" John replied – only catching himself afterwards. Why hadn't he pushed with Larrin?

A strange expression came over Keller's face – John noticed how she seemed to be thinking pretty hard. Too hard for just gossip. "Isn't that kind of risky?"

"Excuse me?"

She looked him in the eyes, and John could see she was more than just worried about him. "Well, it's not like we're office workers or something. Any one of us could be killed at any moment." She motioned around her. "This for example."

John took a moment to think, why would she be worried about that unless…"Ah, I get it. Ronon." Keller merely looked mildly ashamed. John understood why she asked the questions she did. "Jennifer, are you gonna say anything to him?"

Keller took a few moments to herself before speaking quietly. "I don't know. It's, it's so messed up. This does feel like a godforsaken galaxy." John couldn't disagree. "I'm just not sure anymore. I'm not sure of anything."

John tried to listen, he really did, but these were all questions he'd asked himself and figured out on his own. "That's just life."

Keller helped John by putting his head onto her shoulder. The Daughter Rule was screaming through his head as she cuddled for warmth. She'd treated him as far as her kit would allow, and now all that was left was to make him comfortable.

It was more than a few minutes of silence before Keller asked. "How bad is it hurting?"

John shook his head, he could feel his body slowly getting colder. "Not too much, long as I don't move." He looked up at the hole in the ceiling. "Shouldn't be much longer now."

Jennifer nodded and gave John's shoulder a little squeeze. "You'll be okay, we'll have you back home in no time and get some real painkillers into you."

"Oh. you'll give me the good stuff?"

"Of course, you are…"

Keller's voice was interrupted by a sudden surge of static from their radios. Both went to alertness and listened. "They're almost here. _Finally_. Maybe now I can get rid of this damn wood."

John only noticed his double entendre when Keller winced at the comment. "Yeah… hopefully they can get us outta here quickly." She carefully laid her jacket down on top of John as a blanket and spoke into the radio. "This is Doctor Keller! Who's out there?"

A few moments of static, and finally a voice came through. "_Keller! This is Colonel Carter. We're bringing a medevac Jumper and we'll be there momentarily. How's Colonel Sheppard?"_

John, never one to let someone else speak for him unless it was needed, grabbed his own radio and muttered into it. "Colonel Carter, Sheppard here. I have a little more _musty old crate_ inside me than I'd like but I think I'll live."

Nobody laughed, but the message was clear. "_Get ready Doctor, we'll be rappelling down in a few moments."_

Keller screwed her face. "Rappelling?"

"Sounds about right." John muttered, and then saw the look of mild panic on her face. "Oh you're kidding me; scared of heights?"

A sharp quick nod, and Keller looked up. "Yeah! I've uhh… I've tried to get over it. Balconies, milk crate. Small things y'know? Usually not upwards traveling."

John was just questioning the validity of an insane part of space the light from the hole suddenly shut out. The room darkened and he could hear Keller make a worried sound in her throat. A sliver of light opened up, and John could hear the opening hatch of a Jumper..

A few chemical glow sticks fell bathing the area in a warm green glow. Alongside it came dirt and rocks as the ground began to shake again. Keller leaned down and helped John to his feet – he banished the pain from his mind and focused. A few moments passed and a rope along with a body began to fall into the room, seconds later, another larger one followed.

John forced himself to stand, and even in the eerie green glow he could see the blond hair of his commanding officer along with someone he at first didn't recognize.

He could barely hear over the low rumble of the Jumper's engines, but he could see Keller pointing to him and to the two ex members of SG-1. it took a few seconds, but then Keller looped a lanyard Daniel handed Jennifer around her shoulders, then attached herself to the spare rope he had. Then all three moved over to John.

John forced a salute, it was almost comical to him, but seeing Sam's worried expression as she touched down and approached him knew he should tone it down. "Evenin' Colonel!"

Sam quickly knelt down next to him alongside Keller and began to strap him up to her spare rope. "Alright, we're gonna hook you up to a lanyard and pull you outta here. We'll be back in Atlantis in no time."

With a nod, John bit own on his collar as they moved him – the pain rose over his ability to endure and he bit down hard. Once they'd finished roping his legs he let go and looked over to Daniel who gave him a sympathetic smile. "Evenin' Jackson! Lemme guess, You were in the neighborhood?"

"Something like that!" Daniel replied and looked up into the hole they'd fallen into. "Gotta move fast Sam! This place is falling apart!"

Within moments John was secured to Sam's spare rope and was on his feet supported by her.

Daniel pulled Keller to him and tugged on both of their ropes twice. Within seconds they were hoisted up and lifting towards the hole in the ceiling.

Sam helped John limp to the center, then wrapped one arm around him and yelled. "Hold on!"

John braced himself and bit down on his collar again. Pain shot through his legs as the harness dug in and lifted him, the piece of wood in his gut shifted painfully as Sam held onto him as they lifted into the air. Sam kept muttering on the way up. "_You'll be okay, you'll be okay…."_

_**Atlantis Infirmary**_

The surgery had gone well as far as John knew. He could feel the dragon inside his veins – warm and delightful. Mila seemed to appreciate it as well as she sat next to him with a bracelet she'd made for him made from the leftovers of a broken particle cannon. It was amazing how mature the young girl seemed to be despite her age. John could actually have a _conversation_ with her. He wore the bracelet along side his leather wrist strap – it felt right.

Mila had been explaining a rather fascinating discovery she and Radek had made in Atlantis' databanks when he noticed Sam watching from the edge of the room behind the curtains John knew she likely wanted to check in on him, and with Mila unafraid of calling him out on his relationships, he changed the subject quickly. "Alright Mila, I think you should keep working with Radek on that but don't tell anyone. I need a little time with Colonel Carter so go on, try and stay out of trouble, or at least don't get caught."

Mila snickered and shook her head. "There can't be any trouble here on Atlantis, everything's so shiny. Almost looks like new." She gave his hand a squeeze before walking away. Despite her maturity – John noted how she naturally formed bonds with those in authority. He wondered what the psychological reasons were as Sam gave Mila a quick hello as they passed.

"Hey." John said as she approached.

"Hey." Sam replied, a small smile on her face. "Good to see you're okay. You had us worried for a minute there."

"Nah." John muttered. "Maybe if a building fell on _me _and not the other way around."

"_Oh lord."_ Sam shook her head. "No! Don't try it." She chuckled and sat down next to John. "Daniel says hi, so does Larrin."

John shrugged, the dressings on his side and stitches moved but he didn't feel any pain. "Jackson's probably getting settled in, but I figured Larrin'd come see me."

Sam shrugged around half-guiltily. "I uh, kinda left her in charge of the city for now. Gotta let her know I trust her somehow."

John raised his eyebrows. "_What_?" He scoffed incredulously. "And we're not hurtling through space into a black hole?"

Sam rolled her eyes and smirked. "Funny, she said something like that about you."

Now they both laughed, and John groaned softly. "Any luck and Keller can use one of those healing gizmos and I can get outta here soon." He looked up at Sam and sighed. "I was kinda wondering when you'd show up."

"Got a little busy, but I didn't want to settle in for the night without paying a visit."

"Well, you did pull my ass outta there. Don't think I don't appreciate you suitin' up."

Sam reached out and squeezed John's shoulder. "It was nothing. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"You would." John replied. Maybe it was how much they'd had to talk and trust each other on a daily basis, but it didn't feel awkward to just have a little moment of silence.

Sam sighed after the little moment and got up. "I've got to get at least some sleep. Lorne's taking over for Larrin and I've got to relieve him in the morning. If you'd like, I can swing by your quarters tomorrow and bring that chess set. We can play a game over lunch.'

"Cool."

Sam laughed at his reply. "I promise we'll play if you take it easy. I need you frosty John. We all do." She took his hand and squeezed. John squeezed back and then closed his eyes while laying back on the pillow. Sam was gone when he opened them again. All the better. If what Mila had told him earlier was true, then a plan had begun to form in his head that he wasn't too sure he wanted Sam to know.

_**Raid on Asuras (?)**_

_**Dr. Rodney McKay**_

"Come on McKay! Now or never!"

Rodney ran down the hallway without bothering looking behind him. The battle had gone completely sideways, but at least the ZPMs on the planet would blow – not counting the two he had in his backpack. Ronon's words kep him going, it really was now or never.

Deep in Rodney's mind, he thought of how to live with it, Only he and Ronon were left, the other soldiers had gone down holding back the Asurans who challenged them on the way to the gate room. FRAN had failed in her mission and the Asuran blob was rampaging – Rodney had no clue what it might be able to do. With an additional two ZPMs though, Atlantis might have a chance to fight back.

Ronon pulled him forward and fired his gun again, the Asuran behind Rodney fell stunned to the floor as he rounded the corner – it'd only last a few minutes at most though.

* * *

In the real world, Talia watched. Oberoth had decided to personally break the last defenses Doctor McKay had, and now as it was happening what looked like some kind of dark smile crossed his lips. Talia focused – what was Oberoth feeling? _Was _he feeling? Talia had opened her mind to the idea out of curiosity and had developed sympathy,, though not enough to overcome her rage. She understood it though.

As Oberoth finally was able to access the information inside of Doctor McKay's mind, he trembled. McKay spasmed momentarily. Talia asked as Oberoth regained his control. "Oberoth, what is happening?"

Oberoth took his time to reply. He withdrew his hand and looked at it, his eyes almost glazed over. "I-I have access. It is so different. So _glorious_."

Talia had gone from curious to legitimately worried – Asurans didn't say things like that. "What is it?"

Oberoth turned, he smiled in a strange bliss. "He- this human reached an evolutionary peak, and came back. The knowledge within him is vast, so much more than we anticipated. It is so much – difficult to control."

A blast suddenly shook the tower they were in. Talia instantly linked to the Asuran sensor network and was shocked at the visuals from outside. "We are under attack! An Aurora fires on our defense grid!" Oberoth said nothing and instead stumbled back, his hands in the air as if playing with the molecules in front of him. Talia instead switched to a planetwide frequency. "All planetary defenses, open fire and destroy the intruder."

The information flowing back to her was slow – much too slow for what she was used to. Oberoth was trying to channel all the information he'd downloaded from McKay's mind intot he network and it was clogging up their datastream. She felt what a human would call a headache – inability to think and respond clearly.

Talia left Oberoth and Doctor McKay – one stumbling around as if intoxicated, and the other slumped on the ground, regaining conscious.

* * *

Rodney struggled to his knees, he could sense the shaking in the floor and knew it was a threat, but at the same time, he wanted to get closer to that threat. Rodney wanted it to finally put an end to this.

Everything came to him, the Asurans had done everything to him and they'd taken everything he was or would ever be and shattered it. Every part of his memory, his thinking, and even his personality was literally ripped out of his head by Oberoth's hand. He could sense the knowledge of the essesnse of the galaxy in his mind but it just didn't matter – nothing felt real now.

Rodney felt so strange, it was like he could think and his thoughts would become ideas, then become theories, then those theories became practical applications, but it was happening too fast, almost instant. His mind screamed at him with a thousand different voices, each sounding like his own. Rodney tried to scream for help, but his mouth refused to cooperate and instead spat out incomprehensible gibberish. He stumbled forward – falling down and flopping around as he tried to remember how to walk. He knew exactly how much force he was shifting in gravity around him, but he couldn't move easily.

He heard a blast of energy nearby – a bluish orb of significant power slammed into Oberoth and flung him down to the ground. Rodney paid attention as the nanites went into data only mode – Oberoth in essence was dead, but he was still communicating with the Asuran Network. How could Rodney see it? He could sense the information in the air. – it blinded him like a jamming fog. He could make out a figure at the doorway, Rodney could swear he recognized it, but it was too vague, he didn't recognize the black shapes or the gun like object. It wasn't someone he ever would have expected in any case. "_Rodney…"_

"_Ww…www..ell…" _Rodney couldn't speak. He couldn't focus on anything with the loud and screeching Asuran network around him. He heard them screaming – slowly integrating all the knowledge he knew they'd stolen. It was so much…

The figure closed on him and knelt – to his horror it didn't shoot him. "_My god_, what have they _done_ to you?"

Rodney felt her shift him over onto his side – his hair matted onto his face – a greasy mess. The woman brushed it aside – he tried to reply. _"Www…ww…."_

The woman sighed even as the tower shook again. "Yes Rodney, it's me."

"_Yes it is."_

* * *

Elizabeth reacted in an instant and aimed her energy pistol at the Asuran behind her. The Asuran wasn't armed, and she could sense its name – Talia. Elizabeth still wasn't going to relax, "That's far enough! I'm going to kill you all anyway but I don't mind giving you a preview." In Elizabeth's mind, the extra processing power the Replicator body gave her told her that she usually would never speak like that – but seeing Rodney as he was had broken something in her. These Asurans were _not _going to get away.

Talia shook her head, and looked to Rodney. "He has been damaged. His brain cannot comprehend you properly or his surroundings. It has rewired its neural interface to utilize all his brain power without risk of organ failure, but the overload of sensations will overcome him."

Elizabeth kept her gun on Talia and moved closer to Rodney. She refused to join the Asuran Network around her to see if Talia was telling the truth. "You aren't getting any closer to him, I'm taking him."

Talia again shook her head. "You will not escape in your current state. You will need my help."

"Why would you help me?" Elizabeth asked. The plan was a last desperate one in the hopes that Atlantis might be able to make a comeback, but at the least they would severely damage this threat to the universe. "Niam's followers are already with me."

"I am not of Niam's faction." Talia replied succinctly. "I am not looking for ascension."

Elizabeth knelt down and picked up Rodney – the scientist was light as a feather, and it wasn't due to her superhuman strength. "Too bad, because this entire solar system is going to be reduced to ash."

Cocking her head, Talia seemed intrigued. "Ahh, _Koracen_. He was always clever. A delayed feedback loop into the Potentia Grid. This solar system will-"

"_Burn to nothing!" _Elizabeth screamed. It was so difficult to restrain her emotions when she could feel them so clearly. This replicator body had given her a new outlook on the differences between emotion and logic. All she wanted was for Rodney to be safe, but she also knew that she herself couldn't afford that luxury. "If you _really_ want to help, do it or else I'm just going to shoot."

Talia nodded, and turned around. "You will need to repair him. He will not survive on his own."

Elizabeth followed – Rodney dragged slowly on her free arm. "He will not be alone." – _Just not with me._

Talia turned her head and spoke without emotion. "His memory is out of date. Atlantis is not where he believes it to be."

_Shit.- _"Do you have any idea where Atlantis is?"

"No, but I will disable the security grid around the Astria Porta for you. You will not be attacked."

Elizabeth had already begun to think of other potentials. It dawned on her that there was _one _place where people were safe from the Replicators _and _the Wraith. She stared at Talia who motioned to the nearest Transporter. "Why are you helping me?"

Talia thought about it a moment and sighed – definitely _not _an Asuran tic. "I became curious about Humans and how Dr. McKay was able to resist us. I knew of Niam's faction but did not seek Ascension myself. Seeing Doctor McKay beg and weep over the torment made me curious of sympathy and human emotion." Talia softened her features. "I developed programs similar to them – much like Niam did. Rather than ascension, I seek absolution. I regret what I have done to Doctor McKay, but it does not matter anymore. Doctor McKay has so much knowledge due to his evolutionary state. I can feel it in our networks now. It is too much for us and soon we will become rampant and bloated. The knowledge is too much for us to compile and will eventually overload our ability to think." Elizabeth watched as Talia bowed her head. "Dr. McKay did indeed succeed in his mission. He has destroyed us."

Elizabeth thought about it, she didn't understand any of what Talia was saying, but she seemed genuine. She decided that there wasn't enough time for a true decision. "I'm going to the gate room. I'm not sorry you're about to die."

Talia nodded and let the two of them pass, as Elizabeth entered the Transporter, Talia spoke. "Would you tell him I'm sorry?"

Elizabeth hesitated for only a moment. "If you truly help, then I will."

Talia nodded and walked away. Elizabeth hit the button on the transporter and felt the white energy wash over her.

* * *

Talia knew the end was coming – the rampancy had begun to infect her and the knowledge of the essence of the universe was beginning to take over. All she could do was shut down the security grids – Doctor Weir and Doctor McKay would be able to escape.

What Talia couldn't do was override her core programing. Disabling the security grid was simple – she merely sent it into diagnostics mode. To let more of her race die needlessly when the Wraith were still active was too difficult though. Not that she would necessarily die here – this iteration of her would, a backup cloud server in the nanomolecular storage of the Asurans on the few Auroras left would see her live again. That Talia wouldn't have this kind of sensations though and it saddened her just a bit.

Talia shut down all off-world communication grids. The Auroras would wonder what happened – but they would neither know of Doctor Weir's brilliantly simple and effective plan, nor would they be infected by this overload of knowledge. Talia walked to the nearest balcony and watched in the sky as the renegade Aurora continued to rain fire – it didn't make any move to leave the system to avoid the shockwave. Much like her, they had likely come to grips with their own newfound mortality and preferred to die. Talia could understand.

* * *

To Elizabeth's surprise, the security grid _was_ disabled. Talia had been apparently honest with her pledge of support. It wasn't long Elizabeth to pull Rodney to the facsimile of the gate room in Atlantis. "Rodney, come on. Snap out of it!" There was no time, in only moments the ZPMs would overload and finish what Rodney had tried to achieve. "Come on! I need your help!"

Rodney looked up as much as he could, but the bangs of hair covering his eyes obscured his face. Elizabeth could feel every ounce of pain in her mind over the poor man's state. "_Ww…ww…www…_"

Elizabeth cursed under her breath and looked at the controls. She bit the bullet and connected to the Asuran network – she could instantly feel the slowness of it, but she could still access what she needed. "There. Got it." She dialed the gate, but instantly felt something strange in her mind; knowledge she hadn't had before was seeping through the network looking for extra storage space – her.

"_Www… ww…www…_" Rodney continued to blubber. Talia was right, Rodney was damaged and wouldn't survive like this.

Elizabeth knew what she had to do – despite her own misgivings about it. She propped Rodney up against the console and after a moment to calm herself, inserted her hand into his head. It was so strange to her, never before had she done this to a human. She could feel what was going on in his brain and knew what to do. Using her fingers as surgical tools. She blocked off sections – rerouted synapses and neurons. When she reached his memory engrams, she highlighted the ones that she needed him to know. Elizabeth started laughing suddenly as she felt Rodney's thoughts on where she was sending him.

"Wow. And to think you thought she was a space slut."

Elizabeth took another moment to implant the knowledge she needed Rodney to pass on, however long it would take for him to get home. She finished and released her hand.

Rodney stumbled for a moment, again trying to recover from the shock. His eyes cleared and focused on her, his voice caught in surprise. "_El-El-Elizabeth?"_

Elizabeth nodded as she dragged him to the activating gate, only a few moments remained. "_Go_ Rodney, I have to stay."

"_Bu-bu-but_="

No words, and Elizabeth slammed her hand into his head again; in a fraction of a second she said everything she ever wanted to say. "You'll be safe now Rodney, _no more pain_. _GO!"_

Elizabeth withdrew and hugged Rodney. "Goodbye Rodney." She then flung McKay through the open gate – She could feel the sudden surge of power nearby – the sluggish Asuran network was starting to get to her but she still managed to shut down the Stargate in time. As she turned – she forced her sensory perception to maximum.

She could feel the rampancy that Talia spoke of. Her body wouldn't last long like this. Not that she'd come down here with any expectation of getting away – oh no. She refused to become an object of study for the IOA back on Earth, and living an immortal life like this with only the renegade Asurans was unbearable. Time seemed to slow down, long enough for Elizabeth to have a few final moments to reflect on all that happened. This wasn't all she wanted, and she didn't _want _to die, but there wasn't another option now. Elizabeth had accepted it and was glad that she was able to save her friend. Her final thoughts as the shockwave from the exploding ZPMs reached her was that she wished she could have given Atlantis a better gift for all the good it'd brought her now ending life.

**Atlantis, Control Room**

Sam looked down at the readings and didn't know what to say. She looked to Chuck who nodded and replied. "I've confirmed it Ma'am. Asuras is gone. Hell of an explosion – supernova levels."

She wished she could have said those words months ago – maybe things would be different now. It was the dead of night and she was only up because she'd had some trouble sleeping. John was still in the infirmary and would likely take the news well. "Maybe the Wraith are fighting back. How many Asuran signals can you still pick up?"

"Twenty one, ma'am." Chuck replied as he looked at the console. Sam noted he looked tired, but wasn't complaining about the long hours. "Several ships were destroyed as well, but I can't detect any other centralized location for them. They've effectively lost their base of operations and each wolfpack is operating on its own."

Sam remained quiet – she'd have one _hell _of a discussion with John over their next game of chess.

_**April 21**__**st**__**, 2008**_

_**Atlantis, Radek's Lab**_

It had taken a good amount of time, but Radek settled into his new role well. Dr. Rafaela Esposito's help taking care of the scientific nature of the city was well appreciated. The few scientists that had stayed despite the chaos in the city were all working hard, but with the Travelers now assisting with minor city operations – life was tolerable. His blood pressure was still a little high from all the coffee, but at least he was surviving.

Of course, Colonel Sheppard's insistence on being kept apprised of their progress with the Lantean experimental drive. He'd heard a noise outside and cleared the hallway before returning to his seat – Radek felt like he was part of a conspiracy. A conspiracy with a girl and a secretive Colonel.

He looked at Colonel Sheppard and shook his head. "I'm not even sure if we can make it work, Colonel…"

John limped over to where Radek and Mila were seated. Obviously his injury hadn't healed completely. Mila shook her head and drummed her fingers on the desk. "Come on Raddy, it's not like it's going to just blow up. Worrying about it is only going to grey your hair."

Radek groaned as Sheppard sat and motioned to Mila with his hand. "She's got a point, Doc."

"Yes!" Radek replied tersely, didn't they understand? "That's _exactly_ what might happen! We're talking about several thousand yottawatts worth of power. The energy requirements are in line with some small stars."

Sheppard shook his head and used his hands to accent his words. "Look, I'm hoping we'll never have to actually use it, but the fact of the matter is if we can get back to the Milky Way with no way for the Asurans or Wraith to track us, we can take everyone including all the Traveler ships back without them even knowing what happened."

"So I'll get to see your home planet?" Mila asked.

Sheppard nodded. "With any luck, we'll be eating cotton candy in a few months." He turned to Radek and glared. "_Right Doctor?"_

Seeing that Sheppard was adamant about trying to work this technology out, Radek acquiesced. "Yes. it is _possible. _The Travelers have repaired most of the components necessary, but we still need an extremely potent power supply."

"You let me worry about that." Sheppard replied as he got up. He motioned to Mila. "Come on Mil, it's almost lunch time and I promised Larrin and Katana I'd make sure you ate more than peanut butter." He looked back to Radek as the Traveler girl got up and walked. "Don't let anyone know about this. The fewer people know, the less panic will spread."

Radek nodded and groaned as he turned back to his screen.

_**Atlantis, Control Room**_

"We have begun our deliberations Colonel, I cannot say anything for a fact, but with the addition of the Travelers and their technology, as well as the scans of what is left of the Asuran home solar system, the Jaffa are being a little more lenient in their stance on the matter."

Sam tried to keep calm but it was getting harder and harder with all the stress in her life. Few things made her smile nowadays. At the moment though, Sam wanted to grab Woolsey by his collar and give him shaken politician syndrome. "You'll forgive me if I'm more worried about our own representatives."

Daniel's near silent scoff as he cleared his throat made Sam glad she no longer cared about the IOA. They'd stonewalled her for so long – she almost didn't expect any good news from them. Woolsey for that matter seemed somewhat offended by her attitude. "I take exception to that Colonel. I understand where you're coming from, but my colleagues may not. At the moment we are reviewing Dr. Jackson's initial report with the utmost scrutiny, and we will need him back on Earth to help with the negotiations."

Sam turned to Daniel and saw how dejected he suddenly seemed. The last month had been great to have Daniel around to bounce ideas off – not to mention the work he did with the refugees. For him to leave now would upset more than just a few people. "Very well. We'll send Doctor Jackson along to Midway with Ronon for his debriefing."

Woolsey seemed a little more pleased, and he straightened his suit. "Yes, Area 51 is looking forward to Doctor Jackson's translation of certain Ancient devices, and I for one look forward to discussing Ronon's status with the expedition. I'm sure you will also be pleased that the refit of the Daedalus is going smoothly."

The threat was unsaid, but the implication was all Sam needed. She took a deep breath and said. "I'm disappointed with your priorities Mr. Woolsey. Daniel will be heading back tomorrow evening, good day."

Without giving the man a chance to reply, Sam shut the link off and in the distance, the wormhole snapped shut, Daniel sighed. "I knew they'd want me back, but I wasn't expecting it so soon."

Sam turned, and groaned softly at having to say goodbye to her long time friend again.

_**April 22**__**nd**__**, 2008**_

_**Uninhabited planet on edge of Pegasus.**_

As a Wraith, the hierarchy comes down to who wields the most power, the most power comes from who can strike enough fear into the hearts of those around him. Queens were different, but for the most part, to be a leader of the male genus was a true honor. The Commander at the head of the Alliance was one such leader… very old, very wise, and up until recently, too patient for the liking of many younger Wraith.

The urge to feed lessened with time it was said, and more patience was learned as well as knowledge and creativity. This Wraith wasn't so sure though.

It wasn't the main Wraith Commander's idea to do this, to strike using the very lifeline the Earth Born cattle used. To show them that no matter what technology or ingenuity they had, it could always be used against them. "Begin work on the ring… and message our other hives to begin the triangulation..."

At least with the support of the Wraith leader, the Atlanteans would know that the Wraith would not abide their aggravations any longer, and with any luck perhaps soon there would be a new feeding frenzy.

_**Atlantis, Hallway to Pier 3**_

"Larrin, where you going?"

John hadn't expected to see Larrin walking along this section of the city. Keller had insisted he take a good amount of walks to get his muscles to stretch – part of his recovery process. The fact that the fresh air of the piers along with the awesome looking Traveler ships docked helped only made these moments better. Which made Larrin being here all the stranger –he'd heard the Travelers found the fresh air strange, even disorienting. The only things down here were their ships. Most of their people had settled into their quarters in Atlantis now and the once empty city was now bustling with life.

The few scientists that remained in Atlantis's now 120 Earth Born humans had taken to teaching the Travelers of crystal technology and learning how the Travelers had reached the point where they could create hyperdrive technology with wires and computer chips. The ships were looked after, but not fully staffed – certainly not by command level officers.

Larrin seemed to not notice him - almost like she purposefully didn't want to talk to him. "Hey! Larrin!"

She finally stopped and turned to him. She had a smile that didn't seem entirely friendly as he caught up despite his mild limp. "Sheppard, wasn't expecting to find you here."

John groaned softly as he came to a halt in front of Larrin. They'd spoken on and off since his injury, but for the most part their meetings were all official. The few times he'd gotten her to try Earth culture, she'd quickly left insisting she had better things to do. Gold wasn't _that _boring – was it? "Came down here to get some fresh air. Piers are closer to the water. What are _you_ doing here?"

Larrin shrugged around innocently. "Oh I uhh… I came to get some things from the ship."

It was easy to tell she was lying. John knew Larrin was a great liar and to see her fuddle this up meant something big was going down. "Really? Well I'll come with; it's been awhile since I've seen inside your ships. Always liked fixer uppers."

Larrin smiled awkwardly and stood still. "Oh that's okay Sheppard, I know you wanna spend all the time you can with me but umm…" She switched to her flirty devious grin. "I don't think you're really in the right condition for that kind of fun right now."

John was convinced she was hiding something now, and decided to get a little payback. "Oh I dunno, I'm so used to you playing rough, I figure this shouldn't be any different."

"Oh uhh.. well uhh… I-I-I…" Larrin stammered. John loved seeing Larrin run for cover when normally it was her flirty side that left him unconscious.

John tired of her stalling and shook his head with a smile. "Yeah that's what I thought. Now come on, just tell me what's going on and we can go for a walk."

Larrin sighed dejectedly. "Fine. I'm checking our ships to see how repairs are coming."

"Okay." John furrowed his brow in confusion. "I don't see why you couldn't tell me that before unless you're doing it for a reason I won't like." Larrin remained silent, and John began to extrapolate. "You've already got scout ships out there looking for supplies and patrolling, so the only reason you'd want to see if these are spaceworthy…" It finally hit him, and John lowered his voice. "… is if you want to leave."

Again, Larrin didn't reply, she only stood there facing away from John. For the first time John had actually managed to shut the Traveler woman up and he regretted it instantly. Larrin finally turned her head after a few moments and spoke softly. "I'm a realist Sheppard, can the city really hold up against the replicators even with our generators powering the shields?"

Seeing that the woman was no longer playing him, John was equally honest. "Probably not."

"Then you_ know_ why I'm doing this."

"Yeah." John really did understand, and he decided to now confide in the woman before him. "Look, if it comes down to it, I'm not leaving you behind."

Larrin scoffed, and turned away. "Oh _now_ you choose to be romantic? Well, forget it, I'm not leaving my people to go and get _reamed_ by you and your precious IOA."

John took a second to reply to the unintended innuendo as he took a moment to erase the mental image. "Uh, that's _not_ what I meant Larrin. I'm not _going_ back, not unless we can take your people too."

"What?" Larrin focused on him. "You, you'd _stay_?" John replied with a nod. "For ancestors sake, why would you abandon your people?"

John took a deep breath and quietly replied. "Apart from a couple of 'em, they've abandoned _me_. So yeah, if worse comes to worst and we have to leave the city, I'm going with you." Was it a lie? John didn't know – he couldn't see himself reaching that level of desperation but at the same time he needed a reply to secure Larrin's support.

Larrin seemed _very_ surprised to be hearing this from him. "You really _are_ something else you know? I wouldn't have expected you to understand."

"Yeah well, I know where I belong. and if it can't be here, it's definitely not back there."

A smile came to Larrin's mouth, she still seemed very surprised that it had turned out this way. It didn't seem flirty at all as she reached forward and gave John a hug. "_Aw_ come here…"

John groaned softly as his side complained - the skin had healed over but his insides still hurt. "Yeah, yeah." In his head, all he could think was that he always got hurt when he got this close to Larrin. "Now look, I haven't told anyone else."

Larrin giggled and gave him a toothy grin. "Oh don't worry Sheppard." The flirty look in her face came back. "I won't tell anyone you're so _infatuated_ with me you're willing to leave your people behind." She smiled as John made a face. "You still wanna go for a walk?"

John thought about it for a second, he _did_ just basically tell Larrin he wanted to, well… as much as John might _enjoy_ it, in his present state he would more likely be screaming for the wrong reason. "Long as it's just a walk, can't even lace my boots up without going 'ow.'"

Larrin rolled her eyes and took him by the arm. "Figures, soon as you actually come close you back off, you're never going to get in my pants if you keep this up."

John rolled his eyes and snickered at the unrelenting flirtatious behavior from this violent and yet oh-so-attractive woman._ Maybe a movie next time…_

_**Atlantis, Refugee Tower 2**_

"Just calm down! Calm down!"

The two offending groups were doing nothing of the sort. With both Daniel and Teyla trying to calm the refugees, it was clear the stress had gotten to everyone for things to develop into a riot. One of the refugee elders pushed ahead and screamed. "Who are you to dictate our lives?"

Teyla moved forward as well despite Daniel trying to keep her back. A pair of Marines tried to hold the masses back – fighting had broken out and lots of shoving was going on. "We are the people who have saved your lives, and all we ask is no violence."

Said violence had erupted when one refugee attempted to steal the rations of another, escalating verbal violence became bitter animosity, and soon both men's villages were ready to begin the Pegasus version of a bar brawl in the hallway. Daniel couldn't help but wonder how much longer it'd be for an actual riot to happen. "Saved us? We're trapped and dependent on you for everything! I would have rather died than be your slave!"

The crowd was getting wilder, and random projectiles began to fly around as people tossed them in defiance, but before a full melee could break out, a Traveler Particle Magnum shot above their heads scattering them all.

Daniel looked over and saw Ronon with a quartet of soldiers, both Marine and Air Force personnel all armed with the Traveler Weapons and stunners. "_Be quiet!_" Ronon's voice overpowered the din and cowed all forty or so rioters. Daniel was impressed. "Every single one of you owes your_ lives_ to these people. You'd all be dead or fed on if they hadn't taken you in."

Teyla caught on and held her hands up. "Listen to him. I am not of the Atlanteans. I can assure you that they will do everything they can to ensure your safety and that they will _not_ abuse you! They will _not_ take advantage of you!"

The crowd seemed somewhat allayed, but it wasn't clear whether they were just scared of Ronon, and the soldiers behind him. Ronon took advantage of the moment. "Go to your assigned areas. Don't let me catch you doing this again!"

The crowd quietly obeyed, and the two groups slowly took off in opposite directions. Daniel and Teyla moved over to the team and joined them. "Thanks Ronon." Daniel nodded to Ronon with a grateful smirk. "We got caught between them and well, guess Sam's right that we should all be armed."

Ronon stared back without a word, and silently handed him a stunner.

Accepting it with a little hesitation, Daniel strapped it to his belt and looked to Teyla. Teyla seemed a little annoyed with the outcome and looked to Ronon. "You would not have stunned them, would you?"

Ronon just looked back at her and then turned to his team. "Come on, lets make sure they don't try round two."

Both Teyla and Daniel moved to let them pass, and Daniel kept his voice low. "Ooo-kay. He's more pissed off than usual."

Teyla rolled her eyes and pulled on Daniel's sleeve. "Let's go, he is simply angry because of his coming trip to Earth. We still need to ensure each refugee has been scanned for-"

"Teyla." Daniel tugged back and pulled her in front of him. I'm going too."

* * *

Sam had been coming down to find Daniel when she'd heard the gunshot. She stealthy moved forward and peeked around the corner after carefully checking corners and verifying that there were marines in the area. As she rounded the corner, the last thing she expected was to see Daniel and Teyla chatting barely within earshot in a quiet hall.

"_When do you believe you will return Daniel?"_

Sam felt bad eavesdropping, but they looked like they were having a private chat and she didn't want to interrupt.

_"Oh not too long, certainly I'll be back before the little guy kicks his way out."_

Teyla laughed. _That_ caught Sam's attention. She hadn't seen Teyla laugh since Asuras. Daniel for that matter smiled and held Teyla's arm as they spoke. "_I am glad to hear that, he would do much to learn from those such as you."_

"_I'd be glad to teach him, with any luck I'll get a permanent posting here in Pegasus so you'll be seeing a lot more of me soon."_

"_I would like that. It has been so hectic with the refugees that I have enjoyed our talks."_

Sam bit her lips. The obvious flirting wasn't exactly what she'd expected, but then again Daniel was friendly with just about _everyone. _

"_Yeah, it's been a nice change to actually get out of the lab and do something to help. I'd forgotten what that was like."_

"_You do not forget something like that easily Daniel. I am glad we have worked together."_

Sam decided enough was enough – she wasn't a gossip nor did she like eavesdropping. She stepped out and produced a big smile. "Hey! Great I was looking for the two of you. Lucky me, find you both at the same place."

Daniel turned to Sam, as did Teyla. They both looked mildly surprised. "Oh uh, Sam, What's up?"

Teyla gave Sam back an equal smile and nodded. "Yes, Colonel. What is it that you require?"

"Oh uh, well I was going to meet up with Colonel Sheppard and discuss out situation since the IOA is having their debate and since the refugees have been giving us some security problems recently. I was hoping we could come to some kind of better conclusion between the four of us that um, would solve that problem… quickly."

Both Teyla and Daniel blinked in reply to Sam's incredibly longwinded reply. Sam knew Daniel could tell right away she was stalling and simply rolled his eyes. "Uh, sure. Where were you meeting John?"

_Hell if I know. _"Uh, the mess hall, my office can get so stuffy and the conference room seems so-" Sam tried to think of a word, but everything suddenly went blank. _Dammit!_

"Official?" Daniel suggested.

'Yes! Yes and I'm trying to keep things more-" _Double dammit!_

"Relaxed?" Teyla suggested – the hint of amusement in her voice only told Sam she wasn't fooling anyone.

"Uh, yeah. If you two could join us there soon?"

Both Daniel and Teyla nodded, though Daniel spoke first. "I'll walk with you. I'm leaving later today anyway and I've got a whole day to wait on Midway so-"

"I shall join you soon." Teyla said. "I must finish with-" She mumbled the last bit as she turned and walked away, Sam couldn't tell whether Teyla had purposefully mumbled so that she couldn't hear her, or whether it was an honest mistake. It didn't matter though as Sam wanted to get away from such an awkward moment.

They'd just left the hallway and headed for the transporter when Sam turned to look at Daniel, he was _so_ adorable with his blushing cheeks. "So, I see you've gotten pretty friendly with Teyla. I'm not surprised you know, you two are very alike in a lot of ways."

Daniel shrugged nonchalantly, or at least he tried to make it _look_ nonchalant. "Yes, well I've been helping with the refugees since I've got so much experience dealing with foreign cultures. I've already gotten enough translations done to keep the IOA happy. We talk about a lot of things-"

"Daniel, you're babbling again."

"Was I?" Daniel turned and gave Sam a pleading expression.

Sam chuckled as she shook her head; she knew Daniel wouldn't be offended. "Oh yeah. It's okay though, I'm glad you two are getting along so well. I haven't seen her smile like that in months. You have no idea how much stress you've been able to alleviate in this city."

"Yeah well, last time I saw her she wasn't pregnant and in the middle of a war." Daniel sighed and input the codes to transport to the mess hall – Sam didn't seem to mind. "She's a fighter though, keeping busy is helping her cope."

Sam could see it from a mile away – but she respected Daniel's privacy enough to keep it to herself. "Yeah." The transport beam flashed and they could hear the din of the Atlantis personnel in the hallway in front of them. "Hey." Sam stopped before they left the transporter. "I'm glad you came. And I expect you back as soon as possible."

Daniel nodded in agreement. They approached the mess hall where the din rose – both Travelers and Atlantis personnel filled the room. Sam blew a thankful sigh as she spotted John sitting at a table – talking with Mila and working on a tablet she waved around. That damned chess set was between them. Daniel spoke quietly. "Changing subjects, you've been spending a lot of time with Colonel Sheppard recently. Is there something happening Atlantis and I should know about?"

Sam had been expecting this from Daniel. She knew he wasn't making an accusation, just an honest question. "He _is_ my second in command. He's spent a lot more time here and I use his experience." Sam looked over at John and smiled in reminiscence. "And he's a damn good chess player."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Actually yeah." Sam turned to Daniel, a frown on her face. "Jackass beat me first time we played."

"Oh?" Daniel smiled. "What, did you just expect him to lose on purpose?"

"_Yes_!" Sam grumbled with a slight smirk as she walked forward. "Everyone else has." She turned back to Daniel who just smiled back in sympathetic amusement as they approached John.

John noticed the pair and Sam could tell he ended his conversation with Mila. "We can finish this later Mil, Uncle Shep needs to talk to Aunt Sam."

The girl turned and flashed a smile at Sam and Daniel, then got up and left with a quick 'hi and bye'. Daniel waved back with a goofy grin, but Sam on the other hand was focused on something else.

Sam could hear Daniel howling in his mind at her being called _'Aunt Sam'_. The Archeologist tried to hide it, but the edge of a smirk on his face as Sam turned to face him and the point of her finger to his face said it all. "_Don't_ even think about it."

Daniel held up his hands and looked innocent. "I said nothing."

"Innocent until proven otherwise." John shrugged and offered them a seat across from him.

Sam turned to John with an evil eye. His smile was on the edge of cracking into laughter. "You are on _thin_ ice my friend. Careful which way you aim that sharp wit of yours."

It took a second, but John raised his hands and chuckled. "Alright alright, I surrender. Can you at least wait till after lunch to kill me?"

"_Maybe_." Sam said as she sat down. "For now I need both of your help with something." She looked over to Daniel who was hiding his amused expression. "Daniel, I swear to god, if you start laughing I'm gonna use Sheppard's dismembered leg to kick _your _ass after I _kill_ him."

Now he couldn't help it, and Daniel's stifled snort along with John's rub of the bridge of his nose that concealed his smile told Sam she'd just walked into one hell of an unexpected trap. Daniel finally calmed himself and sighed softly as he looked into Sam's face. She was not amused. "Oh I'm sorry Sam, you've gotta admit, you two are pretty funny."

Sam pushed past it. There were only a few men alive that would survive teasing her like that, and unfortunately the majority of them were at this table. "I hate you both." They both nodded - games were over. "Good. Now here's my problem. The IOA is beginning deliberations on whether or not to accept Pegasus refugees; the issue on our end is keeping the refugees themselves from looking bad. Already, I've had several reports of theft, assault, and some have even attacked our men as you both know."

Nodding, and in full serious mode now, Daniel agreed. "It's true, actually before you found me Sam, I had Ronon and Teyla's help to break up a possible riot."

Sam winced and groaned softly. "See? That's exactly what I mean. Some of them have been here for months now and are doing little but sitting around and waiting to see if our galaxy can take them in."

Daniel continued with a sigh. "In my report to the IOA I push that these are mostly farmers and have a Bronze Age level of technology. They're not used to being in this city and if we put them on a protected planet, they'd flourish quite rapidly. That's apart from the Travelers who are on par if not above our own technology level."

John leaned forward now too, noting with some slight hesitation the way Daniel played with the crystal chess set in front of him as he spoke. "Daniel's right. The Refugees won't last here much longer. Ronon's already told me he's got his new team working riot control when they're not off-world. We need to get them through as soon as possible before they start _actually_ hurting each other."

"_That should not be a problem anymore."_

The three occupants of the table looked over to where Teyla was now waddling down the hallway with one hand on her stomach. Sam got up respectfully and offered her the seat next to Daniel. Sam herself switched sides and sat next to John.

Teyla sat down next to Daniel and seamlessly joined the conversation. "I have spoken to the leaders of the individual groups who are causing trouble. I have assured them that their fears are misguided, and that should they continue to cause unrest, my position as mediator would be replaced by Ronon."

John smirked, and his reply was exactly what Sam was feeling. "That should keep them quiet for awhile, let's just hope no one realizes he's going to be gone for a few days."

Sam pushed ahead even further. "Since you mention it, with our kind of luck the IOA is gonna want Ronon to stay for a bit and explain about what happened with the Wraith. They're definitely going to question him over why he didn't try and steal any ZPMs from the Wraith."

"So basically they don't give a damn he survived, other than to question _why_ he survived." John shook his head and cursed under his breath. "Figures."

It was an accurate assessment, but Sam had to remain neutral. "Be that as it may, we need the IOA's support if we want to get all these people to safety. Now Teyla."

The Athosian looked up at her and gave a friendly face. "Yes Colonel Carter?"

"I'm going to really need your help in the coming days. I'm praying the IOA lets them through and if they do, we'll need to coordinate families, groups, villages…"

"Of course Colonel, anything I can do to help."

"And please…" Sam winced at Teyla's formality. "Call me Sam."

Teyla smiled, but Sam could see the discomfort. "Very well, Sam." She looked to the group and sighed. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm famished."

Teyla seemed to be turning to Daniel when John got up as well with a slight groan. "Me too." He turned to Sam and Daniel. "You two want anything?"

Sam was about to get up and say she could get it herself. Daniel beat her to it though and smiled at John's generous offer. "Oh. Thanks John, I'll just have whatever juice they might have. Sam?"

A smile creased John's lips ever so slightly. Sam looked to Daniel's seemingly innocent grin, then up to John. "Anything seafood."

John nodded and began to move away. "Right, juice and a squid coming up."

He was already a few feet away despite his minor limp, and Sam's threatening voice did nothing to stop his smile. _"Jooohn."_

It was no use, and John pretended he hadn't heard it. After Daniel he was done chuckling he looked to Sam with a grin. "I think he likes you." Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile. "I think you like him too."

"Oh gee, really?" A smile crept across Sam's lips, Daniel just knew her too well. "That's what this whole sarcastic thing we've got going is? Thanks Danny, you're like my Oprah."

Daniel stifled a laugh and then continued. "I was wondering how you've kept sane with all the chaos in this galaxy. Now it makes sense."

"We're just friends, Daniel. Granted we're _good _friends as long as he doesn't bring me a squid, but that's what happens when you work closely with someone." Sam rolled her eyes. "That or you end up hating them, and I'm not fond of that road."

"No no no, I know that. I'm not saying anything inappropriate. It's just that it's nice to see you like this." Now his tone got more serious and he leaned in drawing Sam's attention. "I've been worried."

"Me too."

"No no no, Listen. I've been, well I talked to Jack before I came here."

Sam registered the name, but her last memories of the General weren't the best she'd had. _Damned Replicators. _"Oh, how is General O'Neill doing?"

"He's alright." Daniel paused for a moment; Sam wondered what he thought of the situation. "The night before I came here we went to this little bistro and got to talking and well, I kinda realized that, well I'm not getting any younger. I love being out here, especially here in Atlantis, but it can get pretty hairy out here."

Sam could see where he was heading, she let him and replied. "Yeah, I getcha."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is well, maybe it's time I stopped looking and finally found something."

Blinking a few times at the strange sentence. Sam shook her head. "Sorry, what?"

A little scoff of amusement, and Daniel shrugged around uncomfortably. "I'll be honest, the SGC isn't what it used to be. With the IOA in charge it's all about finding technology, translating Ancient and Asgard texts. I spend most of my time in my office trying to get coffee poisoning."

"Good thing Vala's there to take care of you."

With a slight groan, Daniel made his opinion clear. "Yeah, about that, listen, I know we're all friends and all, but I just don't-"

"I know." Sam shook her head and gave his hand a squeeze. "You don't have to explain Daniel. Vala, well-" Sam smiled thinking of her bouncy friend. "Well, let's just think back to when we were going through the gate those first few years, remember all the offers of marriage?"

"Oh _god,_ don't remind me." Daniel shuddered.

"Ha, I'm just saying Vala knows a good one when she sees one."

"Not that Vala's not attractive or anything. I just, let's just say I wouldn't be opposed if she toned it down a little_._"

"I getcha." She looked down and quieted a bit. "Also I've seen you with Teyla. Like I said before, can't say I'm surprised."

To Sam's surprise, Daniel didn't show any shame. "Well, it's just a thought. I mean, we _are_ in Pegasus. If things work out we might be able to find someway of defending against the Wraith and Asurans if they can even find us." His tone turned a little more somber. "And well, if the IOA _won't_ let them through." A moment of silence, and Daniel let his bombshell drop. "I'd really rather stay here than go back to the SGC."

Sam didn't know what to say, so all she could do was think. And no matter which way she turned it around in her head, no matter how the sequence of events played out, it made perfect sense to her that Daniel would rather stay here than go back. Feeling honor was at stake though, Sam finally knew what to say. "You know she's still hoping we can find her people, including the father."

Daniel nodded. "I know, I'm not saying I'm going to drop on one knee and recite Shakespeare, but Sam, the last three weeks make the last three months feel like three years. I'm doing this for me, because this place makes me feel _alive _again."

Knowing how relativity worked, Sam smiled. "I guess that makes sense."

Wiping his brow, Daniel played the wit. "Oh good, because I was worried you'd correct my temporal analysis."

The two friends laughed a bit, and began to talk about more random things including the chess set that Daniel was now obsessed with. Asking her where they got it, Sam had little choice but to tell the truth. Daniel eventually stopped laughing and told her he was glad she had that experience.

* * *

John had just finished telling Teyla of his backup plan should things fail with the IOA. A plate filled with bite size barbecued fish, juice, and various finger foods was their only eavesdropper as they stood at the food bar.

It was a bold plan, something John had thought of in all the time he'd had in the infirmary. Mila and Radek's assistance was the icing on the cake.

The Athosian woman was stunned by his words, but it only took a few seconds for her to breath in and confidently say. "How can I help?_"_

_**Atlantis, Gate Room**_

"Oh don't give me that face Sam. You know I'll be back before long." Daniel raised his sleeve and showed her the injection site with the bandaid. "Gotta test out the gene therapy."

Sam smirked and shook her head idly. "Lucky you, I'll be waiting. Take care."

Daniel responded with a hug – his pack over his shoulder bounced. "Hey, whatever it is you're doing, keep doing it. We all care about you Sam and I hate it when you don't smile."

Sam shoved him playfully. "_Daniel!_" Daniel stared back with a serious face, and Sam responded in kind. "Okay, whatever it is I'm doing I'll keep doing it. Now get outta here before I kick your butt for making me laugh."

* * *

Ronon looked over to where Carter and Jackson playfully said their goodbyes. Beside him, John and Teyla were quiet after relating to him the plan to take Atlantis to the Milky Way – as well as the fallback plan to take over the city if necessary. He turned back to John and grunted. "You're insane." John shrugged. "I like insane."

John scoffed and patted him on the back. "Here's hoping we won't have to use it. Play nice with Jackson would you?"

Ronon shook his head. "No promises." He looked at Teyla who gave him an equivalently serious glare. "You, maybe." He then turned and walked over to where Carter and Jackson had just finished their hug. He sidled up to Jackson and found Carter's more or less shocked face at his approach amusing. He put an iron grip on Jackson's shoulder and hissed. "Hey _buddy. _You and I are going on an _adventure_."

Daniel turned to Ronon with a startled expression. Carter just raised her hands and shrugged. "I have no say in this. Technically, you left my command this morning."

"_Sam_." Daniel muttered as Ronon pulled him along. He wasn't able to say more as the gate finished dialing Midway and the two stepped into the event horizon.

**Pegasus Desert Planet**

The gate on the desert planet kawooshed as the matter stream passed through to the next gate in the Midway Bridge, and instantly the Wraith Technicians got the information they needed. "My lord, here are the coordinates of the originating wormhole."

A smile came to the sub-commander. Now was the time to strike. "Signal our diversionary hives. Have them go to these coordinates and draw their attention."

The technician nodded and grinned, with any luck, Atlantis would not even realize their homeworld was being invaded until it was too late.

**Carter-McKay Intergalactic Gate Bridge**

**Codename: Midway**

Jackson had only just put his bag down when Ronon faced off with him. Ronon wondered why the _hell _the Archeologist smelled like fake leather as he questioned him about his intentions with Teyla.

Jackson's reply was laced with terror. "Uhh… Ooo-kay. Have I given you a reason to think I might be doing something… _ungentlemanly?"_

Ronon had Jackson cornered, the small bunk bed room was way too close for comfort. It'd been only about twenty minutes on the little space station but Ronon had no intention of wasting time.

"No." Ronon grinned awkwardly after a few moments. Jackson moved past carefully. Just as the Archeologist was about to slink by, Ronon stopped him with a hand on his chest. "Just, keep it that way."

Before they could continue to argue, an alarm went off and instantly both men became aware that something was about to go _very_ wrong.

* * *

Daniel was by far not a soldier, but seeing how Ronon used the towel to grab the Wraith's head and spin him around for a perfect position to break its neck certainly made him wish he could be one. Then again, Daniel had learned the essential need to keep a bullet in the chamber so he could quick reload in a close fight like this. Midway's few hallways were quickly turning into a meat grinder. The emergency M9 Berreta he'd found in their quarters wasn't exactly the proper weapon to fight Wraith.

The other Wraith that had found them seemed reticent to engage them, but Daniel just couldn't tell why. Ronon seemed in his element though, using the body of the now dead Wraith as cover while firing back. "Jackson! I need covering fire!"

Ever the generous man, Daniel gave Ronon what he wanted. Daniel peeked out from behind Ronon and the impromptu cover – peppering the two drones who'd found them along with the wall behind them. A trio of other drones approached even as the gun ran dry – Daniel kicked himself mentally. "Reloading!"

Ronon screamed as he raised his magnum and fired a trio of shots, only one of the drones fell while one's leg gave out beneath him. Another trio of drones followed, this time accompanied by a Commander. Daniel finished reloading and cocked the chamber. "Covering you!"

Daniel again popped out despite the stun bolts flying their way – the death Wraith they were using as cover soaked shot after shot – Daniel wondered if those stun bolts might actually penetrate eventually. His trio of bursts held the Wraith back enough for Ronon and he to reach the corner at which point Ronon tossed the Wraith ahead, fired twice, then grabbed Daniel by the collar.

They'd managed to stonewall the Wraith for the moment, but quickly they were losing ground on a very small space station. Ronon pulled Daniel along as they moved to the next bulkhead – sealing the door behind them. He hissed at Daniel. "I thought you were some kind of hero."

Daniel thanked god there was an armory beside them on the wall – _Why is there an armory here? – _He grabbed the rifle, checked the magazine and cocked the chamber – an unfired bullet popped out and he winced. "Oh sorry, left my costume back home." Seeing that humor wasn't going to get him far, Daniel thought about how he might be able to contribute to their survival. "They're after Earth, it's the only explanation."

Ronon growled, and leaned out from behind the corner ahead of them to try and see what was there. Daniel grabbed spare mags and stuffed his pockets. "We gotta stop em, you got any hidden talents?"

The question was too strange and Daniel had to reply. "Like singing or origami?" Seeing Ronon's death glare he quickly added. "_Uhh_, you mean like computers or explosives?" Ronon nodded, and Daniel grimaced, "Sorry, but if you need something translated, I'm your guy."

Letting out a frustrated groan, Ronon leaned around the edge and walked with his weapon held up. "Come on… we'll have to go the long way."

* * *

"Ronon!"

In a lull of fighting, Daniel found he could access cameras on Midway's computer system from a terminal near a washroom. What he saw was terrifying. Ronon took a stand next to him and watched as the Wraith in the control room fed on one of the technicians, leaving Dr Lee and Dr Kavanaugh to interrogate. "_Dammit!_" Ronon hissed.

Daniel realized his homeworld was at stake. The Wraith probably knew the SGC was heavily fortified, but if they were able to get a signal to the Wraith in Pegasus… "We need to warn Earth. They'll be dialing any second now. I need a radio." He turned to Ronon – his breath had turned into a pant.

Ronon grunted in assent. "Hallways clear, might be a radio in the Jumper Bay."

Daniel nodded and moved forward. Nothing could stop him – billions of lives were at stake. "They're obviously trying to override the lockdown that the alarm set off. Once they do, they'll dial Earth and invade. If they can get a foothold on the SGC then they can go anywhere in the Milky Way, maybe even send a transmission to their ships in Pegasus."

"So why do you need a radio?"

The plan was simple, not let a damned Wraith onto Earth, and keep them penned in until Atlantis could dial in to rescue them. "We wait till they break the code and dial Earth, standard procedure is to keep the Iris closed until they get an IDC. If I can radio in before they do that, we can warn them the Wraith are trying to get through and they'll just keep the iris closed."

Ronon shrugged. "Not bad. How do we kill all these Wraith?"

"Oh." Daniel stopped for a moment. "Theoretically, we could vent the atmosphere, but that'll kill Dr. Lee and Kavanaugh as well. We'll just have to wait until Atlantis or Earth can redial in with reinforcements."

Ronon didn't seem happy, but then again he rarely did. "Not much choice. There's a Jumper in the bay, can you fly it?"

Feeling his arm where he'd recently gotten his injection, Daniel winced at the realization. "That's actually a very good question. What about Dr. Lee and Kavanaugh?"

"They're already dead." Ronon explained. Daniel could see genuine sorrow in his face and tone. "Wraith are probably interrogating them now. If they don't give in, they'll torture them. Any assault Atlantis or Earth can pull won't happen fast enough to save them."

Daniel did _not_ want to abandon the quirky Doctor, and he was about to begin arguing when a stunner bolt hit the wall rather closer to him than he would have preferred. Ronon pulled him away as more shots landed where he stood.. "Run Jackson!"

Daniel ducked into the Jumper bay and readied his rifle. Magazines ran out so quickly on these things.

**Stargate Command, Control Room **

Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman was on duty as always, or at least he wanted people to think it was always. Being the senior NCO in the SGC was a daunting task, but Walter bore it without issue and even now as he felt just a little tired, he wished something might happen.

Usually when he wished something like that, he found that nothing happened, but when the Gate began to receive telemetry about an incoming wormhole, and the alarm rang loudly; Walter wondered whether he should have been careful what he wished for. The telemetry coming through was from Midway. "Incoming wormhole." He announced.

Unlike Walter, General Hank Landry was _always_ on duty. Only when one of the other commanding officers of the base were free did he ever take time off for his family or rest. He lumbered into the room from his office. "What is it, Walter?"

The sergeant turned in his seat, but before he could speak, every radio in the room began to screech. _"This is Daniel Jackson! Close-the-iris-Close-the-iris-Close-the-iris!"_

Landry shirked at the panic in Jackson's voice and barked. "Do it Walter! Close the iris!"

The sergeant quickly snapped to and smacked the emergency close button. Moments later as the iris closed, a dull thump was heard. The guards around the gate all turned to the closed Stargate, weapons up – just in case. Landry grabbed one of the Radios from the stunned guards nearby and barked into the radio. "Dr. Jackson! This is General Landry, the hell is going on?"

The sounds of gunfire and basic pandemonium outlined Daniel's voice. "_I'm on Midway! I've got Ronon with me but the station is overrun with Wraith! They're trying to make it to Earth!"_

Proving his point, more thumps against the Iris now… most likely Wraith warriors. A dozen thoughts flew through Landry's head as he took in the news. "Dr. Jackson, did the Wraith take Atlantis

"_I don't think so! They gated in maybe twenty minutes after Ronon and I showed up! I…" _The sound of a nearby automatic weapon filled the radios before Daniel spoke again. "_Ronon! Come on!" _His voice grew louder as Daniel spoke into the radio. _ "I think they tracked us somehow."_ More gunfire and howls of pain from downed Wraith warriors.

* * *

Landry could already imagine what a close fight it must have been on Midway – knife fight range even. "Can you make it back to Atlantis?"

"_Not a chance! We're trying to make it to the Jumper for now, but we're gonna have to wait till Atlantis realizes what's going on and sends a strike force! Do __not__ open the Iris till we can give an all clear!"_

"Excuse me?"

Landry winced and cursed under his breath – he'd hoped the bastard hadn't decided to check in. "The Wraith have attacked _Midway?"_

Landry sighed and turned to the spindly politician. "It appears that way Mr. Coolidge, we've got a wormhole established and we're talking to Doctor Jackson currently on Midway."

Coolidge moved forward and stared at the gate for a few moments before turning to Landry. "Have the Wraith taken Atlantis?"

"No." Landry replied. "They must have found someway to hijack the bridge. Once Atlantis tries to send their regular report, they figure it out and send a strike force to keep us safe."

With an emotionless face, Coolidge turned to Landry. "Unacceptable. Send the self-destruct signal to the bridge."

Every Air Force officer in the room turned to look at him. This was _not_ a light decision. Landry looked back just as sternly. "_Excuse_ me?"

Coolidge pointed to the still active gate. Maybe he thought standing up to a General was a way of asserting his dominance. "Look at that, General! We just came within a hairbreadth of being invaded. The Wraith want Earth and they're doing everything they can to take it. We need to ensure that that can't happen." He drew in a breath; evidently this was a hard decision even for him. "Transmit the destruct code for the bridge, all nukes."

Landry was in no mood to do such a thing, especially since Daniel Jackson, Ronon, and the Midway crew was still on board the station. "You're asking me to kill my own men."

"I'm _ordering_ you to defend this planet."

Landry knew how politics worked, and even more he'd been a part of wars where men's lives were spent – but he refused to waste them. "Doctor Jackson." He hissed into the radio.

"_General! We're almost to the Jumper! We'll lose contact once we're clear of the station I think!"_

Landry made the hard decision. It'd haunt him just like all the other ones. "Doctor. I've just been ordered by the head of the IOA to initiate the self-destruct on the Midway Bridge." He stared at Coolidge and made another hard decision. "I can give you five minutes. It's already risking the Wraith shutting down the gate and preventing us from dialing in so that's all I can give you. Can you make it to safety?"

"I said _now,_ General!" Coolidge growled.

"_Uhhh, well. Shit, I don't know sir! I've never flown this before!"_

Landry ignored Coolidge and turned to Walter who looked just a somber as he felt.. "Five minutes, Sergeant, on my order."

Walter turned to look at Coolidge, back to Landry and then nodded. "Yes sir." He input the code – all it needed was Landry's authorization codes.

"Blow it now, Sergeant." Coolidge insisted, pushing his way to the console. "We can't give the Wraith any chance."

"You have your orders Sergeant_._" Landry insisted and moved over to the console. To prove his point, Landry stood between Coolidge and the console as he input his code. "Doctor Jackson. You have five minutes to get as far away from Midway as possible. The station _will _self-destruct to keep the Wraith from getting to Earth. Am I clear_?_"

"_What? General!"_

"_Am I clear?" _Landry barked. He did _not _expect this kind of decision today but he hadn't reached General by pussyfooting around. He turned to face an angry Coolidge and kept talking to Daniel. "The decision is out of my hands Doctor and I've bought you all the time I can. Get to the escape Jumper and get to a safe distance. Daedalus can stop by on its return trip to Atlantis."

There was no reply, and Landry could tell it was because Daniel was too busy fighting for his. Coolidge looked to the General with a hard stare. "General. As head of the IOA I order you to…"

The old General had had enough and closed in to inches of the politician's face. "_Listen to me you sniveling little cunt_." If this were anywhere else, and no junior officers were around, Landry would have picked up the skinny politician and slammed him into the wall. "How _dare _you make me do this, how _dare _you have the audacity to order the needless deaths of courageous men because you're a spineless _coward_ and won't give them a chance. You make me ashamed to think we're the same species."

"I'm ensuring we remain a _dominant_ species." Coolidge hissed back and then retreated. "You've got your five minutes General, but don't think I won't forget this."

**Outside Midway, Escape Jumper**

"Where the hell'd you learn to fly?"

Daniel tried to keep a straight angle with the Jumper, but he'd never flown stick before, let alone mental. "I'm trying I'm trying! This is _really _weird to me okay!?'

"You ever see a Mark 9 go off?" Ronon howled as they moved forward. Daniel could see the wild spin the Jumper was flying in – maybe his panic was translating into their flight path.

Daniel was already emotional about leaving Doctor Lee behind, and his reply was filled with scorn. "I set off the first one ever!"

"Then fly faster!" A sudden bleeping on the HUD got both of their attentions, and Ronon barked. "What is it?"

"I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know?"

Daniel worried that it was what he was thinking it was, and as the alarm finally flashed a signal, he knew things were about to get rough. _No way was that five minutes._ "I mean I don't know! Hang on!"

The blast wave from the Mark 9 nuke that had just incinerated the Midway Station along with both gates inside quickly reached the Jumper, and the deflector shields barely held as the small craft was pushed along for the space version of surfing a tsunami.

**Atlantis, Sam's Office**

"You know Daniel was wondering where we got that chess set."

John made the finishing touches to his report on the Traveler Security Force level of training and smirked. "What'd you tell him?"

Sam shrugged. "The truth. He laughed his ass off." Sam chuckled and accepted the report from John. "That's not the biggest surprise I've got for you though."

Now intrigued, John looked up with a curious grin. But whatever Sam was about to say was interrupted by Chuck's sudden voice over the PA. "_Colonel Carter, this is the control room, please come in."_

Sam sighed and tapped her earpiece. "Yes, Chuck. What is it?"

"_We've got a problem, sensors have detected Hyperspace windows in the solar system. We're not expecting any Traveler patrols anytime soon."_

John sat up straight. "Let's go."

Sam nodded and got up as well. "I'm coming Chuck, give a sitrep."

Chuck continued on the intercom. _"3 distinct hyperspace windows… can't tell what they are but definitely capital ship sized." _John and Sam quickly crossed the bridge and Chuck continued seamlessly now in person _ "_We do have that many Traveler craft on missions but they'd jump in closer, I'm not getting any IFF either."

Sam and John looked at each other, and without words they knew what they had to do. Sam motioned to John to move to the control chair, and looked down to Chuck. "Raise the shields, have someone find Larrin and bring her here right now." Just for posterity, she turned to John as he began to limp away. "Colonel Sheppard…" John turned his head and stared back, and Sam found that all she could do was nod to him. His nod back reassured her –they were ready for a fight.

"What is it? Why is the shield up?" Larrin hissed as she entered the room. Evidently she'd been nearby. Sam motioned with her head for the Traveler to stand beside her and look at the screen. The three signals were beginning to clear and now they knew what was happened. "_Wraith,_ How'd they find us?"

Sam shook her head. "I don't know, but however they did it they're keeping their distance. Unless they get into orbit we can't hope to hit them with our drones, but they're out of range of their own weapons as well."

"_Then let's take the fight to them." _John's voice cut through on Atlantis' speakers – he was in the control chair already.

Larrin shook her head. "No way. Even if I launch my whole fleet we don't stand a chance against _three_ hives. Each of those hives has two cruisers docked and over two hundred Darts. We'd get swarmed before we even got close enough for our weapons to have any decent effect."

Sam began to tabulate the armament Atlantis had – there had to be a way to fight these Wraith. "Daedalus might stand a chance with its nuclear weapons, but they've been back on Earth getting a refit for weeks."

"_Wait." _John spoke – now in a private channel for Sam and Larrin. _ "There's only one option. We've got nukes in storage room B-29 don't we?"_

"Uh, yeah." Sam had to think for a moment. Larrin's look of surprise was expected- the Traveler hadn't known the level of firepower they had. "We've got what's left of Daedalus's nuclear ordinance before she set out for the Milky Way. But we've got no way to reach those Hives."

Larrin rubbed her face and paced. "_Futaris Wraith." _Sam raised her eyebrows, Larrin didn't typically speak Ancient. "Never had to stand and fight them before. Always had a hyperdrive handy." She shrugged and muttered. "We might be able to drop those bombs using our ships – limit our engagement time."

"_No." _John spoke with confidence. "_Cloaked Jumper. Wraith point defenses'll take out any missile we fire and no offence, your ships wouldn't survive getting that close. Gotta drop em right on top – Jumper can hold a few Mark Eights, or one Mark Nine. What'll be more effective?"_

Sam closed her eyes – that technical side of her brain already was screaming Mark Eights, but the newer more emotional side screamed to not let him go. "Mark Eights. One on each." She tapped her earpiece to a wide communication frequency after deciding. "Major Lorne. Report to the control chair room to relieve Colonel Sheppard."

A second passed. "_Copy that, Ma'am."_

"Colonel Sheppard, meet with Dr. Zelenka in the Jumper Bay. We'll have the nukes brought up there immediately."

Larrin narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow. "What? You're letting Sheppard fly?"

Sam turned, motioned for Larrin to follow, and pointed to Chuck. "I need you to coordinate our mutual security forces, make sure the refugees stay in their areas and keep calm." Sam began to walk away but Larrin decided to follow.

"Wait!" Larrin caught up to Sam, just out of earshot of the rest of the control room staff. She whispered. "You haven't answered me. Sheppard's still hurt, why are you sending _him?"_

Sam wondered if Larrin was genuinely concerned over his health, or if maybe she had deeper feelings for the Colonel. Teasing aside, Sam did wonder how John could resist this woman's charms. "He's our best Jumper pilot, and we won't have a second chance."

Sending men on dangerous missions was something that always bothered her, but Sam knew her duty, and even more, John knew it as well. Larrin's look of concern only told her that yes – there was a big difference between being elected a leader and being trained for it.

* * *

"Be careful! The guidance packages are much more delicate than normal!"

Dr. Zelenka was furiously trying to keep the grunting marines who hefted the three nuclear warheads from damaging the jury-rigged sensor packages he'd installed. They would allow Colonel Sheppard to deliver targeting data after he'd deployed them like space mines.

Of course the concept of mining space was so folly, that Sam nearly kicked herself for using the comparison. "Colonel Carter?"

Sam turned from where she stood with Larrin and nodded. "Yes Doctor?" Both she and Larrin moved closer. "Yes, Doctor?"

Clearly, Radek wasn't happy with the plan. "We have problem, the instant Colonel Sheppard opens the aft hatch to deploy these, the Wraith will know he's there and open fire. The possibility of his survival is less than favorable."

Sam noticed John walk up to them – he still limped but he was doing a very good job hiding it. "No choice, those Hives are probably waiting for reinforcements. Even with the drones we won't stand a chance against a siege and only one ZPM."

Sam felt the need to make sure John understood her position. "I don't want to-"

"No one else has jumper experience against the Wraith." John waved his hand. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Larrin and Sam looked at each other for a moment, neither satisfied with that answer. Larrin spoke with a clear confidence Sam hadn't expected. "No. You'll never make it on your own."

Sam already knew what she meant, but she had to ask. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

**Jumper 1, En route to Hive Position**

"This is Jumper 1, I'm going to be making my approach soon. Looks like they've spotted you and launching their darts, I'll get as close as I can and drop."

Larrin's voice came back snappily. _"Just don't blow them till I'm clear, I'd rather not have to clean up a mess."_

John couldn't tell whether or not she was _trying _to be suggestive, or if by this point he just took everything Larrin said as a double entendre. The ride was smooth as always but the feeling of the extra weight was clear on the Jumper's maneuverability. "Uh, right. Look, don't take any chances, Get their attention, hold em off, then run like hell. Clear?"

_"Gotcha." _Larrin replied. John didn't know how Larrin continued to garner the support of her people, but four Traveler Ships had volunteered to serve as a distraction for his mission. They wouldn't stand up for long, but that wasn't the point.

_"Larrin to all ships, keep your energy on shields. Two strafing runs and bug out. Sheppard's got the big guns for this op and we're just giving him cover, clear?"_

Four acknowledgments and John took a deep breath. This was the only way – anything else would just be a waste of time. Now he just had to prove he _wasn't _a suicidal maniac.

**Atlantis, Control Room**

"The Travelers have engaged the Hives, ma-am. Looks like the Hives are taking a phalanx position…"

Amelia pointed out on the screen and zoomed in using Atlantis's cameras. She pointed out what Chuck had just stated. "Looks like a strafing run, those Darts are pestering the Traveler's though."

Sam groaned softly and ground her teeth. "Wish we had 302's, guess we're just gonna have to pray those nukes take out enough Darts for the Travelers to mop up the rest. Colonel Sheppard?"

Amelia blinked and then almost muttered. "Uh, can't really tell. He's cloaked. Best guess is he's approaching the hives now."

Rolling her eyes, Sam could only pray. "Let's hope they're in position. Zoom in on the Hives."

The screen moved, and the distinct visual of three hives combining their impressive fire against the passing Traveler ships, at this distant range though, the Travelers were hard targets to hit compared to the slow moving Hives.

Particle Cannon shots traced across Wraith Plasma bolts, a crisscrossing of red and blue energy pulses slammed into shielded Generation ships, and heavily armored Wraith organic hull. It was oddly beautiful to watch.

The room was silent as they watched on the screen the Travelers fighting to give Colonel Sheppard the needed distraction to plant his nuclear charges. The Hives had inadvertently gotten into a perfect position for a strike and now all they had to do was wait.

The Travelers turned their craft around and began a second pass, this time closer and with more intensity. Definitely they wanted to get the Hive's attention and it wasn't long before both exchanges of fire started to show damage. "Ma-am, the Travelers are starting to take damage. They won't last much longer especially if those Darts keep harassing them."

Sam nodded, and keyed in her radio to the Traveler frequency. "This is Colonel Carter to Larrin, get your ships out of the way, head straight back to Atlantis, I'm going to send six Jumpers to cover your retreat and mop up any Darts following you."

Larrin's voice came back surprised. _"Really?"_

"Couldn't let you go out there alone." Sam smiled, and realized that slowly but surely the Expedition and the Travelers were gaining trust for each other. She just hoped the few pilots left were skilled enough to take on those Darts.

The plan went as expected – a strange non-exciting battle as the Jumpers took off, but all of a sudden, a blinding flash came from the cameras. Sam winced and turned away as did the rest of the crew. It soon faded and Sam's heart began to race.

The blast had been magnificent, Sam made damn sure to take a screenshot to use as her new background image it was so hauntingly beautiful. The massive EM burst was now blanking out sensors and despite the elation of fighting back, Sam was a little worried that she could only make out the Traveler ships on their way back to Atlantis.

* * *

A sense of relief washed over Sam and the entire control room staff when John limped into the control room from the docking bay with Larrin's help. It had been about twenty minutes from the time of the blast and the EM interference was still clouding their sensors. Larrin had one arm slung under John's shoulders and helped him limp through to a chair a technician vacated.

Sam noted he wasn't in the best of shape. "Colonel Sheppard, what happened? Are you okay?"

A few nods, and Larrin's groan of exertion told Sam that John's pain threshold was its usual very high point. "Yeah, just a little banged up."

Larrin scoffed, and sat down on the chair Chuck vacated and offered. The technician was aghast at how John took it all in stride and was more concerned with the city than his own health. Sam felt the same way. Larrin muttered as she rubbed her face in exasperation. "_You moron_! You almost killed yourself!"

Sam shook her head and tapped her headset. "Dr. Keller, please report to the control room. Bring a medical kit."

John raised his hand to argue, but seeing Sam with her fierce expression on, knew better than to kick a dead horse. He rubbed the side of his head. "I got knocked out in the blast, are the hives gone?"

Nodding, Sam showed him the impressive picture she'd taken. "All three, the blast even ignited part of the ring the planet has. If anything survived it won't for long." Looking at Larrin, she narrated what she thought must have happened. "He set off the nukes as soon as you guys were clear, didn't he?"

"Perfect shot." John chuckled. "The hives were splitting up, couldn't miss that chance."

"His ship caught the edge of the blast wave." Larrin explained as she got up – a moment's rest was all she needed. "No real damage but it knocked out his inertial dampers. Lucky he's got such a hard head."

Sam sighed in relief, and she nodded to Larrin. "Thanks for going back for him."

Larrin softly smacked the back of John's head as she walked pass and then squeezed him shoulder softly. "You _better be_ as grateful you asshole. You _ever_ do that again and I'll kill you myself."

"Yeah yeah, I am. No more heroics for me please."

"_You better not try anymore!"_ The entire control room was surprised by Doctor Keller's almost screech, and she continued as she walked up behind John and took over for Larrin in helping the slightly dazed Colonel. "I swear if I ran a private practice here I could live off your injuries alone!"

Sam winced at the slightly dark joke, and decided to push forward now that the crisis was over. "Alright, we've made it through this okay but now we've got a problem. Why were those hives just sitting there? Why didn't they attack?"

Chuck had taken a seat nearby and was going over the scans of the Wraith Hive. "Ma'am?"

The crowd turned to face him minus Keller who groaned softly as she ran a portable scanner over John. Larrin furrowed her brow9 and muttered. "Whatcha got Chucky?"

Grimacing ever so slightly at what Sam was sure to become his new nickname, Chuck rolled his eyes and pulled up the information. "That's _Chuck_ thank you, and I've got all the sensor data from the Hives. They were in subspace communication with _someone_."

Amelia was at the other side and working diligently. "I'm trying to triangulate it, the Traveler ships picked it up as well and I'm getting sensor data from them now."

Sam sighed and looked to John. "Alright, Colonel, go down to the infirmary." before he could argue, Sam held her hand up. "No excuses, that's an order."

John saw she was serious, and relented. With Larrin's help, he got up and began to walk all while Dr. Keller muttered to herself in repressed anger. Sam looked to Amelia and nodded. "Keep working on that signal, I want to know where they came from or who they were talking to." She then turned to Chuck. "Dial Midway, we need to let Earth know what happened."

The battle was over, it had been quick and decisive – yet when the dialing procedure failed, both Sam and Chuck furrowed their brows in worry. He tried again and met with the same failure. "Colonel, it's not working."

Moving closer Sam stood over his shoulder. "Try again."

"It's not on our end. We'd get an alarm from the DHD."

"I know Chuck, just try." Sam tapped her earpiece. Dr. Zelenka to the control room, please."

A second passed and the Czech's voice came over the headset. "_Zelenka, what is the issue?"_

Chuck shook his head as the gate once again failed to dial. "We can't dial the Midway Bridge, I want to rule out any problems on our end first."

"_Copy, I'll be up with technical team in five minutes."_

Things just seemed to be getting worse, and now as that instinctual feeling in Sam's gut began to rise, she knew the bad news was just waiting to strike at her.

**Wraith Orbital Shipyard**

"My lord."

Todd continued to work on modifying the Asuran power modules into something that the Hive could attach to. He turned to this new sub-commander, still so young, still inexperienced. "Yes?"

"We've received a report from our scout ships, the hives sent to distract Atlantis were indeed destroyed."

It was to be expected, the Atlanteans were surprisingly devious when threatened. "Inconsequential."

The Sub-Commander growled softly, he was much more defiant then the one who launched their first strike. "This brings our total down to twelve operational hives! We will never-"

"Yes we will _never_ be able to defeat either the Atlanteans or Replicators with so few numbers! " Interrupting, Todd growled angrily at his sub-commander and hissed. "But neither will we have enough food if we remain at these numbers! Our ships are too slow to reach the Human homeworld easily, but with these modules our Hive will be unstoppable." He glared menacingly at the Sub-Commander. "What of the advance party to attack through their bridge?"

Cowed by the sudden wrath, the Sub-Commander held back his ire. Perhaps one day it would be him in this Commander's place, but not today. "They have failed. Our last report has the bridge between our galaxies destroyed."

A moment of contemplation, and Todd smiled. "Excellent."

"But it was a failure! Only by hyperdrive do we have any hope of-"

A snarl, and the sub-commander was silenced. "Yes! But the Atlanteans are now trapped. Atlantis is stranded, and a perfect target for our latest Hive."

The Sub-Commander looked at the console ahead of him, and saw what Todd was talking about. "Forgive me, I should not have doubted. Shall I inform our hives?"

Todd shook his head, the conversion was nowhere near complete, and if it came down to it it'd have to be on the fly. "No, the less know of this success the better. Now leave me, I must continue my work."

The Sub-Commander bowed his head and turned. Todd had worked to reach this point in his life –and he planned to keep his life going.

**April 23****rd****, 2008**

**Atlantis Control Room**

It took some convincing, but eventually Dr. Keller was satisfied John's stitches would hold and let him go on the strict promise to not exert himself. He'd still had to spend the night in the Infirmary.

It came as a surprise when Lorne was waiting for him outside the infirmary with a worried expression. "Sir."

John was still limping, but for the most part his injuries were now minor. "Yes, Major?"

The Major sighed softly and kept his voice down. "Colonel Carter asked me to tell you to go see her as soon as you have a chance, command staff only."

That meant even the Major didn't know what was going on, John furrowed his brow and nodded. "Thanks, Major."

Lorne saluted, but he looked troubled, something must have happened.

The walk up to the control room took longer than usual, John's now minor limp drew a few glances, but every so often he noticed someone who looked downtrodden, almost disillusioned. Sam had told him how bad it was about when he'd been a prisoner and the faces he now saw were what she described.

Something had happened.

John had just entered the Control Room; everyone from civilians to Marines looked downtrodden. John walked over to Chuck and asked. "Uh, what's going on?"

The few technicians in the control room all had that downcast expression. He could have sworn Amelia had been crying, and Chuck had lost the everpresent smile he had as he looked to John. "Sir, Colonel Carter's waiting for you.'

Now extremely worried, John moved forward and crossed the bridge to the Office. Inside, Sam was sitting at her desk with an expressionless face, not even doing anything as she waited. "Sam, what the hell happened?"

Sam looked up at John, and blinked a few times before responding. "Sit down, John."

John did as he was told, he had the feeling that it was the best thing to do. "Sam, what is it?"

"Midway's gone, John." Sam said quietly. "The Wraith hacked into it somehow and tried to make it to Earth." Speechless, John felt his heart begin to race. All those disillusioned faces now made sense. "From what I can tell, they waited until we used the bridge to hijack the last gate in Pegasus in order to get through. The Hives sent here were most likely a distraction so we were less likely to find out until it was too late."

John winced, and rubbed his face. "And we fell for it."

Nodding, Sam kept her voice low. "They probably weren't planning on us winning here, just wanted to get our attention. This also explains how they knew where we were, triangulated us when we dialed."

"Do we have any clue what happened to Midway's crew, Ronon and Daniel?"

Sam shook her head and bit the inside of her lips. John could see how utterly dejected she looked – he could swear her eyes watered. "We dialed Earth directly, turns out the Wraith did manage to dial Earth, but Daniel warned the SGC before any Wraith got through and the Iris went up. Despite General Landry's objections, The IOA panicked and set off Midway's Self-Destruct."

"What?" John's jaw dropped in shook and he felt his heart begin to race. "You mean the station's gone?"

"Not just the station." Sam breathed in through her nose sharply, holding back some kind of emotional outburst. John just tried to keep his breathing steady. "Instead of the standard ten megaton nuke for Midway, the IOA placed almost a dozen Mark 9 Gatebusters along strategic points in the bridge, along with the station itself. They spent a huge amount of resources to ensure that the bridge wouldn't be easily repaired." A moment to let John digest the news, and she finished.. "General Landry gave Daniel and Ronon five minutes to reach the escape jumper, they don't know whether they made it or not."

"Neither of them has the gene, how could they fly it?"

"Actually, Daniel had just gotten the gene therapy when he left, it's possible he could take the jumper far enough to survive." The only hope Sam had for her old friend.

John checked his breathing; his hands were trembling slightly from the rage and realization that Ronon and Daniel might be dead. "Does he have any flight training? Any chance he could…"

Sam's voice fluttered just barely, the most emotion he'd seen from her ever. "He's had some minor training, nothing serious. He might have been able to get away but five minutes." Sam sighed softly, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "General Landry promised to send Daedalus to search, but that's not the worst of it." She winced and then looked directly to John. "The IOA has vetoed any chance of an evacuation given the Wraith's attack. No one's heading back to Earth that isn't part of the Expedition, not a single one."

John closed his eyes and bowed his head. They'd worked so hard, they'd gotten so much progress. Now the Wraith had them cornered on one end, and an impassable wall awaiting the other. With twenty three Auroras still patrolling the galaxy and burning any habitable planet, options were limited to say the least.

Sam leaned on the desk with her elbows and press down on her eyes. "I told Larrin, It's still my choice to offer them sanctuary, but if the Wraith know where we are, you can bet the Asurans will soon too. I'll make an announcement tomorrow to our staff, right now only the people in the control room know and they're all keeping quiet."

It was over, it was all well and over and John had only one possible alternative. "How'd Larrin take it?"

"Not good, I don't know what I can say to her, and we've only got enough supplies to last four or five months before we exhaust it all." A soft swallow of reality. "That is if we can even last that long against a siege."

There wasn't anything else to say, and John didn't know whether or not Sam would be willing to hear the plan he'd been developing over the last few weeks. He certainly knew she played by the rules, and this was a _big_ break of them. Deciding to try and nip at least one situation in the bud, John pushed himself out of the chair and sighed softly after a few moments of contemplative silence. "I'll talk to Larrin, try and keep the panic down. We can still try right?"

Sam nodded, and a rueful smile came over her face. "All we have left." She looked up to John and sighed, her voice bereft of emotion. "Do what you can John. I-I need a few minutes."

John didn't say another word as he left Sam's office. Both officers were feeling more than just the weight of the city on them now…

**Atlantis, Hallway to Sheppard's Quarters**

John knew that there was no way it could get any worse, but seeing Larrin sitting outside his quarters ostensibly to wait for him had him think otherwise. "Larrin."

She turned her head and stared harshly at him. "Carter, tell you?"

Larrin stood as John approached. The look on her face was a mixture of terror and anger. "Yeah, she told me." There was a few seconds of uncomfortable silence between them, and Larrin finally broke it with a soft question.

"Were you serious?"

"Excuse me?"

Larrin wasn't in any playing mood as she hissed. "I said were you serious? About coming with us?"

John sighed softly, he'd said it to keep Larrin from doing anything drastic, and now he had to fess up. "Yes, but-"

"_But_ what? Larrin wasn't pleased. Your people aren't going to let us through. The only reason I came here was because I thought your people might help. _Don't_ tell me I was wrong about _you_ too."

"Larrin-"

Hearing her name made her even angrier. "_Don't 'Larrin' me! _That might have worked before but not this time! I'm telling my people we're leaving as soon as we can pack all our stuff and I need to know _now_ whether you're coming or not!"

Deciding that tact was less than helpful, John just spit it out. "We might not have to!" John took a deep breath and decided that Larrin _needed_ to know. "Look, Radek and Mila found something…"

* * *

It had taken ten minutes to explain everything to Larrin. She quietly listened and lost her anger. Slowly it evolved into confusion. When John had finished, he wasn't surprised at her reply. "You're serious aren't you? This isn't some kind of traumatic Wraith _cacare_ you're spewing is it?"

John kept stoic – Larrin's help would definitely make this easier. "I've been planning it for weeks now. I've got Ronon, Teyla, and hopefully another two or three of my guys willing to go forward with it."

Dumbfounded by John's plan, Larrin was still incredulous. "You're seriously going to do this? Everything you just told me?"

Nodding, John took Larrin's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "This is my _home_ Larrin. I'm not about to let the Wraith, the Replicators, or even my own people take me away, not again."

"Again?" Larrin cocked her head and kept her voice down. "What do you mean?"

John sighed, and recounted the tale. "A year ago, the Asurans actually did take Atlantis. We weren't here though, we found a ship with living Lanteans and well, they kicked us out. Idiots got killed by the Asurans within a month. We only got the city back by going on an unauthorized rescue mission."

Larrin was again silent. It was half a minute before she spoke again. "I- I'll talk to our leaders, get them to see-"

John took her shoulders and held her in place, Larrin was surprised by his sudden controlling nature. "_No_! _Damnit Larrin_ you can't tell _anyone_! All it's gonna take is _one _person to tell the IOA about this and it's _over_. Not even Sam knows yet and I don't know whether or not I can tell her. They'll court martial me and _then_ I'd have to run off with you, and as much as I might enjoy that, I'd rather we stay here."

"Oh, we?" Larrin asked. John caught her defensive flirtation –he was really getting to know her now.

John had wondered why he never closed the deal with Larrin – maybe he only trusted her as far as he could throw her. "Yeah, we."

"That?"

"Mmm." John murmured as he pulled her closer. Not confirming or denying.

It was a surprise when she wrapped her hand around his side and squeezed, his wound shot pain through his leg and he stumbled. Larrin held him up and chuckled. "Oh, looks like you're still a little too banged up for that kind of _discussion._"

John nodded – looked like she wasn't sure what she wanted from him either. "I guess, so you're not going to tell you people yet?"

Pulling away, Larrin shook her head despite the tinge of blush in her cheeks. "No, _I mean_, yeah. I won't tell them the whole story, but now I gotta figure some way to convince 'em to stay. At least until we can tell them about this."

Nodding, John watched as Larrin pulled away. "Alright, but the less people know the better. I'm hoping your people agree, otherwise we're _screwed_."

**April 24****th**** 2008**

**General O'Neill's Office, Pentagon**

"I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you General."

Jack drummed his fingers on his mahogany desk. He hated the tacky thing, but to refuse the man before him's gift would have put a rift between him and the IOA. Just like what Woolsey was telling him now. "Tell me Dick, exactly when were you planning on telling me that you'd rigged the entire gate bridge to blow?"

Richard Woolsey seemed a bit uncomfortable, but he kept his composure to a somewhat calm degree. "Yes well, it was deemed to be only privy to those with a vested interest in the Pegasus Galaxy. Colonel Carter was sworn to secrecy as were the entire IOA Supreme Council."

"Which includes you, of course?" Jack made little attempt to hide his scorn. "And not the head of Homeworld Security?"

Woolsey sighed softly and took his glasses off to rub his nose. "I _am_ sorry about that General. It was deemed to be used only as a last resort and to give widespread knowledge of it would have jeopardized our talks with the Jaffa."

Jack rolled his eyes and for the umptybillionth time wished he could just reach over and strangle the politician in front of him. For such a long time it had been a strange friendship – Jack knew Woolsey's heart was in the right place, but he'd just been trained to be such a _damned _good politician. "The Jaffa? _Please._ You mean you didn't want the Air Force to know. Which by the way we're very disappointed in."

Woolsey leaned back in his chair, obviously bothered as well. "I know, and I'm sorry, General. If it were up to me I would never have set the self-destruct. Dr. Lee was a great asset to us, as well as the other two technicians on the station. We still don't know whether or not Doctor Jackson and Specialist Ronon were able to escape. "

With a wave of his hand, Jack brushed off the comment like an annoying fly. "Oh I _know_ he's alive. You've never wanted to kill Daniel so you don't know how hard it actually is to do." Seeing Woolsey's almost mortified reaction was worth the dark joke. Jack had no doubt in his mind that Daniel had survived, if he hadn't, more than likely the archeologist would have shown up naked in his office _again. _Thank god there was a flag here just in case.

"Yes well, _apart from that_. We now have the problem that the Atlantis Expedition is now mostly out of reach. We can only maintain communication when they dial Earth, and we're back to three weeks there and thirty seconds back."

"'Course that's not much of a problem when all you're sending back are ancient doohickeys." Jack hissed.

Woolsey could easily tell that the General was quite and very angry at the IOA. Not that Jack cared. "Seeing as how the Wraith know where Atlantis is now, I would not be surprised if the city comes under siege again."

Jack leaned over to his right and gave his 'punch me clown' a hard bop on the nose. If he couldn't hit Woolsey, he was definitely going to hit _something_. "No, _ya think?_" Jack sighed softly, now knowing that his instinct a month ago when Carter and Sheppard were here was right.

For that matter, Woolsey seemed genuinely concerned. "We've reequipped the Daedalus with as much offensive weaponry as her hull will tolerate, which by the way has been upgraded as well to allow for the dual cargo pods that are being installed."

"Cargo pods?"

Woolsey nodded and opened his briefcase. "Because of the possibility of running into significant Wraith or Replicator resistance, the new plans for the 304 upgrade were pushed through much sooner than scheduled. We've repurposed the parts that were being built for the Phoenix."

Jack leaned forward and examined the fifty-page folder Woolsey handed him. Flipping through it quickly, he shook his head idly. "_What_?"

Deadpan, Woolsey replied. "Look at the last page."

Doing as he was told, Jack saw a schematic along with several pictures with lines pointing to specific places. "Ah, why didn't you just _say so_ in the first place?"

"I thought that's what I was doing now."

Realizing he was right, Jack remained silent and examined the paper. It looked similar to what he knew 304s looked like, but the rear flight pods had a new section attached on top giving it distinct shape – kind of like a box pushed in along its middle. The front section where the plasma beams were attached were elongated and widened as well, not large enough to obstruct the hangers, but still enough for… whatever was inside them. "Looks like you doubled the hangers and gave it a mutton chop."

Woolsey winced slightly, and pointed out specific parts. "The _'Mutton Chop'_ is actually a part of the ship's new primary weapon. It's all very complicated but the Asgard Core had much more information that was lost in translation. With Dr. Jackson and his team's help though, we've been able to translate it properly and examine all the files in detail. The Asgard did indeed give us their most powerful weapons on the Odyssey at the time, however, with new data recovered from the database on Atlantis, our scientists have been able to perfect the experimental weapons the Asgard were working on."

Jack blinked a few times, the sentence was relatively easy to comprehend and all he wanted to know was one thing. "Bigger phasers?"

Woolsey's groan was totally understandable.

**April 29****th**** 2008**

**Atlantis Control Room**

The Midway Bridge was gone, seven of the gates were completely obliterated by the Mark 9 Gatebusters and there was absolutely no way it could be repaired in any quick amount of time. Not that the IOA was going to do it, they were too worried about any kind of Wraith or Asuran invasion to even contemplate rebuilding the bridge.

So now that Sam and John were talking to Mr. Woolsey while even more expedition members left for Earth - only 89 Earth Born Humans remained in Atlantis - the atmosphere was less than friendly. "I'm sorry Colonels, but the IOA has made it clear. There will be no evacuation of any non-expedition person through the Stargate. The possibility of Wraith Worshippers or Asuran Spies is simply too great, and the less the Wraith and Asurans know of Earth the better."

John was having trouble repressing his anger. But with Sam handling most of this, he had to remain silent and stew. "So what now Mr. Woolsey? We have almost seven thousand people in Atlantis at the moment, and nowhere else to go. Daedalus can't possibly do supply runs enough to keep everyone alive. What do you recommend?"

Woolsey's chin shifted just a bit, and he sighed softly. "The only recommendation the IOA can push forward, is for the people to be moved to the mainland of the planet you are on in the hopes that Atlantis can defend them against the Wraith and Asurans while giving them a chance at survival."

Everyone who heard it winced and felt the ire seep through their veins. John hissed back at the screen. "You mean kick them out, and hope that the Wraith don't lead the Replicators here?"

"Now Colonel, this is not the ideal situation, but as Colonel Carter has put it we simply cannot continue to feed and medically treat these people. Especially since you are now much more isolated. The IOA has decided that the Atlantis Expedition is to halt all off-world activities not associated with city defense and any willing expedition members to await the arrival of a potential task force to be created."

Sam furrowed her brow, and looked to John with confusion – this was news to them both. "Task Force? What are you talking about?"

Woolsey on screen seemed pleased with himself, almost as if he were recounting his own idea. "The Daedalus is undergoing the last part of its refit as we speak. We've repurposed the flight hangers of the latest 304 and upgraded its weaponry as well. Technical schematics have been sent to you. It will launch again in two days. Once there, you will begin to evacuate as many ancient technologies as you can by utilizing its expanded cargo hold. The hope is that with its updated weaponry, and larger cargo capacity, that we can hold onto the city long enough for a large enough task force of 304s to be stationed at Atlantis for city defense."

John turned his head to Sam and quietly asked. "How long would that take?"

Sam quietly whispered back. "Too long, a year at least." She looked back to the screen. "Mr. Woolsey, we've already repelled one potential Wraith attack, How long would it take for this 'task force' to be sent here?"

"Barring any unforeseen dilemmas or setbacks, as well as counting on Jaffa support with the colonization aspect-"

"_Colonization?" _John lost his control – the word implied so much. "Do you mind explaining that?"

"Of course Colonel, with the assistance of the Jaffa, we're hoping that by the time we're able to send the task force, the Wraith and Asurans will have worn each other down to such a degree that the Milky Way can send a larger expedition in order to-"

"Are you fucking _kidding_ me?_" _John screamed. Everyone in the room backed off – even Sam. John couldn't believe his ears.

"Calm yourself Colonel. This is only one aspect of our plan to-"

"_I__gnore_ all these people? Let an entire galaxy _die_?" Nothing was going to stop John from venting his rage.

"Control yourself, Colonel Sheppard!"

"_Fuck you, you sick bastard!" _ John turned and stormed off almost knocking Chuck off his chair. He couldn't bear listen to more. As he reached the end of the control room, he let loose with a frustrated punch to the metal wall, denting the metal, but also leaving a bloody imprint as he tore his hand open. Nobody said anything.

* * *

Sam turned back to Woolsey with scorn. Everything John had done, she'd thought.

The politician seemed offended, and his voice was calm despite the moment. "I will attest that to frayed nerves. You will have a talk with him I suppose, Colonel Carter? The IOA cannot risk having a loose cannon for a military comman-"

"_Fuck off._" Sam hissed. She'd had enough too, and she still had lots of work to do to make sure people didn't panic anymore than they already were. With a quick move, she shut the video linkup and motioned to Amelia to shut the gate down. The blue puddle quickly vanished, and calm was restored to what little degree was possible.

Nobody said a word as Sam walked over to her office, unwilling to speak to anyone. She slammed the door shut and closed the blinds – no one was going to bother her while she worked the rage off – though not punching solid metal walls.

**May 2****nd****, 2008**

**Somewhere near Debris of Midway Station**

Daniel groaned softly as he took the canteen Ronon handed him. "I don't suppose there's a shaving kit in those emergency kits." He rubbed his chin in thought – he hated the itchyness. Ronon's shake of his head said no. "Yeah… didn't think so."

They'd been stranded for week and a half, and they'd exhausted just about every conversation they could think of. Food wasn't a problem, but the monotony was killing them both and they'd gone from acquaintances to friends and back to some strange level of animosity from the way they just couldn't find anything to do.

That is until Daniel asked Ronon whether he'd come to Earth if all hell broke loose... and Ronon told him Sheppard's plan.

**May 5****th****, 2008**

**Atlantis Control Room,**

**Colonel Carter's Office **

It had been a week and a half since the Midway Disaster, and the city was back to some semblance of order. The Travelers had stayed on thank god, and Sam knew she had John to thank for that. With the gate bridge gone, she was back to making monthly reports to the IOA that made her job considerably easier in that respect.

She'd spent the time going over potential plans expedition members set forth, she'd requested everyone try and think up something, to contribute to the mess of ideas in her own head. So far none of them were plausible, and all suffered the same issue as staying on the planet. Both the Wraith and the Replicators could reach them no matter where they went.

Sam had worked herself ragged, trying to figure out some way of saving Atlantis and the seven thousand people occupying her towers. There were so many considerations that had to be solved... food, water, medical treatment, and even all the cultural differences between the refugees made daily life harder and harder. All this was apart from the potential attack by Wraith or Asurans.

Sam hadn't slept for a long time now, but she had to focus, she had to…

* * *

It was late in the evening when John walked into Sam's office to deliver his latest report on security. Several riots had broken out, and the infirmaries had had a busy night with victims of assault, stabbings, and most of all stunner hits. John didn't know what he was going to suggest when he walked in, but it all left him when he saw Sam at her desk.

The Full Bird Colonel had passed out and lay sprawled on her desk, one arm acting as a pillow to her head, the other balancing her out. Her tablet beeped softly, a low battery warning. A soft snore came from her throat that John thought was cute, but seeing the lines of exhaustion on her face told him this wasn't a good scene.

A sigh left John's mouth, as he knew the woman had exhausted every potential way out. John had felt the same as she must be feeling now. The sympathy was there and he felt for the woman. Telling Sam his plan was always a possibility, but he knew she was one that went by the rules and would more than likely be against it. But that still didn't stop his sympathy, and John kept his voice low as he walked around her desk and began to shake her shoulders. "Sam."

Nothing, the woman was passed out hard. John knew from experience that sleeping in such an odd position was hell the next day and he shook her a little harder. "Come on sleepy head, you need a bed."

Now she stirred, and a soft groan left Sam's mouth as she woke from her exhaustion. "Hmm, _bacon!_" she swung her hands around defensively swatting John away and then groaned softly realizing consciousness had returned.

John soothingly shushed her as he chuckled, and whispered to keep her calm. "You passed out Sam, come on."

Raising her head up for a second like a groundhog, Sam decided that she'd had a better time unconscious than having to face what she'd been agonizing over and settled back down. "Ohh, _fuck off. _Can't you just let me sleep?"

John pulled Sam up and set her back on her chair. Like it or not, Sam was awake now and rubbing her eyes to try and get back to some level of consciousness she could appreciate. "Sorry boss, don't think you'll like the backache you'll have tomorrow if I let you stay here."

Sam groaned irritably and leaned back in her chair. "What time is it?"

Not even checking his watch, John pulled Sam up out of the chair and held her in place as she blinked to get used to the light. "Time for you to go to bed. _For god's sake_, how long have you been awake?" He noted with no small sense of sympathy her bloodshot eyes, the messy strands of errant hair, and the dark patches underneath her eyes showing her exhaustion.

"I dunno, day or two? If you'd tell me the time I could tell you."

A scoff left John's lips, and he reached towards her face. "Yeah well you're going to bed and staying there till you've had eight straight hours. You need it." Sam noticed his hand approaching her face and pulled her head back defensively. John sputtered. "Hold still! You've got a…" Taking her face in his left hand, Sam held still as John plucked a paperclip that had gotten stuck to her cheek as she lay on the desk. He flicked it away and rubbed Sam's shoulder sympathetically. "Yeah… bed time."

Grouchy from being woken, Sam spit back as John led her out the door. "Well I _was_ asleep until _you _jackassshowed up!"

John raised an eyebrow "Damn, you're a potty mouth when you're tired. Passing out on top of your tablet doesn't count."

It was a hard point to argue, and Sam simply stayed quiet as John walked her to the transporter.

They didn't talk anymore as they walked down the hallways. John simply kept an arm around Sam's shoulders steadying her as she zombied down towards her quarters. It wasn't until they actually reached the doors that Sam stopped.

John opened her doors and pointed inside. "Eight hours, uninterrupted. That or I stun you... _again and again_."

Laughing at his sympathetic threat, Sam shook her head idly and remained at the doorway. She took a deep breath and finally looked up at him. "Hey…"

"Yeah?"

"You got any beer?"

John understood her lateral way of saying she wanted to talk. He shrugged and figured some booze might help her sleep. "Uh, yeah. You…?"

"_Yeah_!" Sam replied sharply.

"Come on, I know a little place."

**Atlantis Balcony, South West Pier**

John knew that Sam was tough, one doesn't reach Full Bird Colonel without proving oneself over and over. But he _never_ would have imagined Sam as a heavy drinker. "Jesus, _take it easy_."

Sam finished downing the bottle of Molson and tossed it over her shoulder and into the ocean. The little place was a spire of Atlantis right near the ocean, it wasn't the safest place given there were no rails or walkways on the outcrop, but the view was perfect, and it didn't get any more private. Sam quickly pulled another beer out of John's little cooler and sipped on it. "Gotta make up for lost time."

"Your liver is probably wondering what it did to deserve this." John muttered as he took a sip of his own. He was two behind now. "Sam, what is it?"

Sam sighed harshly, John could tell that whatever was bothering her was something she didn't want to admit. Maybe she was getting hammered so she _could _admit it. Instead of answering him, she asked a question. "Your hand okay?"

John flexed his fist and sighed. It was childish but his rage had to come out one way or another. "Sore, Keller says I broke it."

"Well, that's what you get for punching a solid metal wall." Sam chuckled, but he could hear the sadness behind it. _"God I want to do that sometimes."_

"What's bothering you Sam?"

"Nothing. I'm just, worried."

"We're all worried Sam, but you're not exactly hiding it well."

"_What?_" Sam replied sharply, her movement just a bit sluggish. The alcohol was starting to affect her.

"Something's up, what's on your mind?" John rephrased, hoping Sam would let him in.

Still Sam shook her head, though her voice was full of scorn. _"I told you_. Nothing's bothering me. I'm just worried about everything."

"Semantics? _Please._ Something's bothering you, why else would we be sitting here drinking and not talking to each other?"

Sam turned to him with a dangerous smile – evidently she didn't like his sarcasm now. "Maybe I just wanted to get drunk. Maybe I just want to sleep hard and this is the easiest way."

John stared back and relented – he'd try a less subtle approach. "Fine, let's change the subject. How's the weather in your office?"

Sam flinched just a little and tensed – now she was angry. "Oh it's great you know? Gets a little _frosty_ sometimes when I have to deal with all this IOA _bullshit_ about relief funds being wasted when it could go to something _worthwhile._"

She'd let go of something without thinking; John decided to ride her wave of anger. "Maybe I should tell them who donated most of that money. Then they'll start bitching at _me_ and leave _you_ alone."

"Maybe you _should_! Maybe then you'll know how _hard_ it is to deal with it!"

"Then I'll let the IOA'll know I'm not fucking around."

"_Oh what, and I am?" _Sam hissed at him much louder than she had to.

They looked at each other with the intent to show scorn, but after a moment of looking each other in the face neither could hold it and both sighed heavily with regret. John rubbed the back of his head and felt horrible for pushing so hard. "Dammit, Sam. I'm, I... _damnit, I'm sorry._ It's just…" he looked up at her and lowered his voice. "I'm here to back you up, _no matter what._ And I can't do that if you _won't talk to me._"

"_I'm sorry too_." Sam spoke softly now; she turned away and looked up into the night sky. "Just, god I'm just worried alright? I'm just worried about everything. I'm worried that we're gonna have to abandon the city. I'm worried that the Wraith or the Replicators or god knows what is gonna come and try and take it from us." Sam quieted – her voice cracked just a little. _"I'm worried about Daniel and Ronon."_

John finally understood. He took a long sip of his beer – almost empty. "I'm worried about them too."

Sam drew in a deep breath through her nose and rubbed her forehead. John could tell she was trying not to become emotional. "I just, _god what kind of person am I?_ I'm more worried about my _friend_ then I am this whole-"

"You're just human." John cut in. He swished his beer around and quietly spoke. "We all are. I'm worried about them too, A lot more than I should be given the circumstances." He took a long sip out of bottle and emptied it. Following suit, he simply chucked it over his shoulder into the ocean. "Daedalus should be reaching them in a few days, I'm hoping they're okay."

"God, I hope so." Sighing, Sam dropped her head onto her knees. "I just wish none of this happened."

"Yeah, me too."

Sam was drunk – John could see her swaying back and forth, probably reciting PI in her mind so she could focus again. John had been in the same situation enough times to recognize it. When she turned her head to him, he was surprised at how clear she spoke. "So, when are you gonna tell me your backup plan?"

John feigned ignorance. "Backup plan?"

"_Jooohn_." She slurred. Her voice was also dangerous. "You've never lied to me, at least not blatantly. _D__on't start now_."

"I…" John gulped and downed half his beer. He'd been caught and he needed to see if he could trust her. "I don't know if I can tell you."

"Oh? That bad huh?" She chuckled and shook her head. "Well, you might as well tell me because I know you're not going back to Earth."

Again, John remained quiet for a moment before replying. "What gave me away?"

Hearing a bottle break behind him, John suddenly realized that while he was looking away and drinking heavier, Sam had done the same and was on her sixth beer. How the woman didn't puke was a mystery to John. "Oh, just things you said. Things you _did_." Sam chuckled again and seemed to stare into the opening of her beer bottle. "_O__ur little date_."

"Date might be a strong word." John deflected – he needed to regain his composure. "A box social maybe?"

Sam laughed at the ridiculous reply. "Do you have any idea how long I kept asking myself if that night was even real?" John remained silent, now worried about what Sam could have deduced. "God I couldn't get it out of my head. _'What was going through John's mind that night?'_" A few drunken giggles from Sam told John this was _not_ going to end well for him.

"Well, I wasn't lying. I really don't know when the next time I'll be on Earth."

"Yeah, that and your crazy shopping spree. _God, I honestly thought you were crazy_, either that or everything I've heard about you was true."

John finished his beer, a light buzz was starting but suddenly he felt like he needed so much more. "Oh, What have you heard?"

Sam shivered – when had it gotten cold? She scotched closer to him and cuddled up. "John Sheppard, intergalactic player and dashing hero. Leaves a girl at every gate." She giggled madly – John raised his eyebrows in surprise at her behavior. "You had me worried I was next."

Given the conversation, John was worried about how she'd cuddled up next to him. Then when he could feel her shivering, he realized she was just cold and beyond any awkwardness with him. He wrapped an arm around her and tried to warm her up. "What do _you_ think?"

Sam waited a moment for her reply. John knew she wasn't in a good place and it wasn't exactly a fair question. "I-I don't know what to think."John stopped everything – _what was Sam saying?_ "Do you trust me John?"

John bit the insides of his lips – he hadn't expected a conversation like this. "Yes."

"Then tell me, _what do you have planned_?"

John hesitated again – _dammit _this isn't how it was supposed to go down. "It's not exactly, _according _to the rulebook."

Sam scoffed. "What, you think I'd _court-martial_ you?"

John scoffed back and shrugged, he might as well get it over with. "You haven't heard the plan."

Sam drew in a long breath through her nose – the strange situations he found himself in never ceased to amaze him. "You know, none of us would be alive right now if I hadn't broken the rules once."

"Say what?"

"About a year after we started the SGC, a Goa'uld named Apophis was about to attack Earth. Dr. Jackson had seen it happen in an alternate reality and knew we stood no chance of defending against him, so…" Sam took a moment to breath – evidently this was a big thing for her. "We were desperate, the NID – the precursor to the IOA – had shut the SGC down. Apophis was hours away, so… we broke the rules." Sam stared off into space – John could almost see the memories flashing before her eyes. "We launched a first strike through the gate. Got onto Apophis' ship and raised hell. Hardest thing I've ever done, but if we hadn't gone through and sabotaged those ships, Earth would have fallen. Not a damned one of us would be alive, or if we were, we'd be slaves." She turned to John. John had never heard of this before. "_Tell me_ John. I'm _desperate_ to save this city and all I've got now is whatever you've got planned."

John considered what she said, and then made a decision. "Alright." John took a breath and spoke quietly. "Radek found something a few months back. A project the Lanteans were working on that Rodney had found. Don't even bother asking me about the math because it's way over my head, but from what he tells me, it's a type of instantaneous wormhole drive. Sort of like a giant stargate for the whole city that can cover the distance between galaxies in a fraction of the time a hyperdrive would. Radek never told you because I begged him not to."

"Uh." Sam scrunched her face and swayed back and forth drunkenly. "Wow."

Her tame reaction brought a chuckle to John before he continued. "Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. But he's been going over it with Mila and they both agree, they can get it to work. It's just-"

"Power." Sam interrupted. She was still shivering a bit, but the combination of her rapidly inebriating state with what he was telling her probably played havoc with her social skills. "You'd need so much power to do that."

"Yeah, so I talked to Larrin. If we work together, Daedalus along with a few Traveler ships might be able to disable one of those Aurora wolfpacks so we can steal their ZPMs. Get enough power to use it."

It was a bold plan to say the least. Ronon had thought it insane – he wasn't wrong. "Problem!" Sam interrupted again as she raised a finger. "Can't go back to the Milky Way" She palmed her face at the thought as she shook her head drunkenly. "Arrest us as soon as we go through the gate back to Earth." John just gave her a stoic expression back – Sam evidently could read his face. "_You're not going to the Milky Way_."

John sighed as he shook his head. "Before this bridge thing, yeah I was hoping the Milky Way would be okay, _but now_? Radek says there's a list of galaxies in the database, he's going through them looking for one we can go to where the no one can find us. Not the Wraith, not the Asurans, not even the IOA. the wormhole drive has a ridiculous potential range so we've got options."

"That's…" Sam seemed to finally recognize what John was saying. If she ever doubted his trust, she couldn't now. "Wow." Sam looked dumbstruck – the revelation of John's plan was just another insanity this galaxy brought to her. "I-I-I I need, I need time. I need to think about this." John didn't blame her. If the situation weren't so bad, she'd have probably had him locked up.

They stayed quiet for a few moments, just drinking and watching the stars around them move slowly. John noticed Sam sniffling just a little as she looked up. He saw his chance to change the subject. "Sam, _they'll be okay_. Come on, Daniel Jackson and Ronon? It's hard enough to kill Ronon. From what I hear Daniel's got some kind of horseshoe up his ass."

Sam couldn't help it and she burst out laughing, John held her with one arm and rocked back and forth as she cackled. But soon he realized that Sam's laughs weren't just out of mirth. The woman obviously wanted to vent, and the laughs were the closest thing to a release valve she had.

Sam shifted closer and wrapped him in a hug. John returned it and nuzzled her forehead with his chin as he comforted her. She wasn't crying or sobbing, but the laughs were eerily similar. "_Oh god." _She said. "I can't lose him John, I just, I can't." She quieted, just enjoying the hug for the sympathy it meant. "He's my best friend John. I-I don't, I _can't_ lose him."

John didn't reply and just hugged her. How they'd gone from bickering over beer, admitting potential mutiny, to now a sympathetic and heartfelt hug. John long ago abandoned any notion of sanity in this galaxy. "Come on, you need sleep."

Sam nodded and got up with him, but before he could move she held him back. "Wait, wait. Just give me a second." Sam rubbed her face, and quickly finger combed her hair that had come loose.

John couldn't help but smile at Sam's obvious care for her appearance. Then again as base commander, she had to be an example to everyone else – except maybe him. "Yeah."

A few seconds passed, and Sam finally nodded, John kept an arm around her as they walked, and it wasn't long before Sam began to speak again. "John, I-I-" She didn't finish the thought – John didn't call her on it.

It was a quick walk back to her quarters, and John opened them again ready to shove her in. "Alright. Sleep, you little insane drunken angel."

Sam giggled and shook her head. "Hey! I didn't know you liked Futurama."

John shrugged. "I might have some of the DVDs." He pointed into the room. "Go to bed. We've got a lot of work to do if we want to keep this place in one piece."

Nodding, Sam pulled away for a moment, but then turned back and bowed her head as she rubbed her forehead. "I _can't_ lose him. He's my best friend and-" She stopped, still breathing hard and rocking from side to side.

John nodded and sighed, his hand rubbing the scab along his knuckles. "I know, he's fine Sam. They both are."

Sam sighed softly and pulled herself into another hug with John. She then dropped her head onto John's shoulder. He could sense the feeling of trust she had in him. "Thank you John. I uh-" Sam pushed off him now, she was pretty drunk and it'd be hours to work it off. "We should be getting to bed. _Uh, I mean-!_"

John hadn't even caught the double meaning and just rolled his eyes with a smile. "Go to sleep. We can talk later."

Sam rubbed her face and waved him off grumpily as she mumbled. "Yeah yeah, like you're not tired either."

**June 2****nd, ****2008**

**Atlantis Control Room**

"Hyperspace window detected in orbit ma'am." Amelia announced. Sam was expecting this but it still gave her Goosebumps. "It's Daedalus."

"Open communications." Sam ordered. The mood was brighter around the city – Sam had ignored all request to evict the refugees, and even more, her plan to coopt the marines the IOA had already sent was working beautifully. While they couldn't accept anymore refugees, Atlantis had been able to deal blow after blow to the Wraith who were culling humans with little regard for sustainability. They'd been moved to worlds the Asurans had already hit but were still at least somewhat habitable – a chance to survive.

More importantly, news would finally reach them of Midway – It had taken time to work through the stress, but Sam was hopeful. Amelia replied. "Caldwell on the line."

John had walked up and stood beside her – a buoy just in case she needed it in this storm. She'd never have guessed that she'd come to trust him so implicitly so quickly – much like she'd come to trust Daniel, Jack and Teal'c that first year on SG1.

Sam tapped her headset and spoke calmly. "Colonel Caldwell, good to see you again."

"_Likewise." _Caldwell's voice replied._ "I think you'll want to come take a look at what they've done to my ship."_

"On my list of things to do." She shot a look over to John, who'd sat on Chuck's console despite the Canadian's eyeroll. He nodded and kept both him and her calm with his almost aloof attitude. "Colonel… Did you have any luck at Midway?"

It took a few seconds for a reply. A flash of light came from below – a transporter beam. "_Picked up a couple hitchhikers, turns out we were going the same way."_

Sam stepped out towards the gate room and restrained herself from running. She could already hear them, and John was right behind her. "Glad to hear that Colonel, you can set Daedalus down for resupply and refueling on the west pier. Watch the Travelers though, don't want to scratch the paint on that new ride."

Caldwell's reply was unheard as all of Sam's focus was brought to bear on the two men getting greeted by the guards in the room. "Daniel, Ronon."

Daniel turned, his face tired but obviously happy to see her. "Sam."

Sam didn't care what anyone said and walked up to hug Daniel. He chuckled and returned the hug. Sam noticed more than a few people give her looks of surprise. Ronon just grunted and nodded to her.

"Ronon… _Daniel…_ " Sam recognized Teyla's voice and let go of Daniel. She turned back and saw Teyla approach with a hopeful face. "You will pray for death if you worry me like that again."

Despite the threat, both men moved forward and accepted Teyla's welcome. John walked up behind Teyla and summed it up perfectly. "Welcome home, guys."

**Atlantis, Sam's Office**

"I'm not going back."

Sam had been ecstatic to see Daniel and Ronon alive. She'd lost so many people already. Daniel had come with her to her office while Ronon went with John and Teyla. Now his insistence on staying in Atlantis was the exact opposite of what she wanted for him. "Back where?"

Daniel motioned towards the gate with his head. "Earth… I'm not going back."

It wasn't hard to guess why Daniel seemed so insistent, but Sam decided to play along for now. "Not that I'm not happy you want to stay, but for god's sake why?"

"To be blunt, I feel more at home here than I do anywhere else."

It was hard to refute that, Daniel had spent his whole life delving into cultures of all sorts, and now he had found a place that had everything he could ever want. "I see. How much has Colonel Caldwell told you about the IOA's new stance?"

"Oh nothing I didn't guess in the two weeks I spent chatting up Ronon." Daniel sighed and leaned back in his chair. "With Midway gone, no evacuation, no off-world duties, no more relief supplies. I'm guessing the platoon worth of marines on the new and improved Daedalus weren't requested by you?"

"No." Sam replied. "The IOA sent them to 'protect' the expedition from potential refugee uprisings or…" Sam palmed her forehead in disgust. _"… possible Traveler attack."_

Daniel shrugged. "It's a fair point."

"Excuse me?"

Daniel held up a hand. "Don't get me wrong, the Travelers have nothing real to gain by taking over the city and I don't think they would, but it's a fair concern for the IOA who haven't seen the kind of people they are."

"The only real knowledge they have is your report." Sam said. "What did you say about them?"

"That they're a nomadic people who aren't used to being tied down or cornered." Daniel replied. "They'll be our allies until it's no longer beneficial to them. As long as we offer them sanctuary, they'll play ball." Daniel sighed. "At least for as long as it lasts."

"That's my point." Sam latched onto Daniel's wording. "We won't last in a drawn out fight with either the Wraith or Asurans. All we can really hope is to keep hiding, but our supplies won't last forever. _Why_ do you want to stay?"

Daniel cleared his throat and shifted around a bit – a clear nervous tic. "Like I said. I feel better staying here than I would running back to Earth."

"Bull." Sam shot back. She narrowed her eyes and couldn't help but smile at how Daniel had bought into it hook line and sinker. "You know about John's crazy plan with the Wormhole Drive."

Daniel was silent a moment – aghast and vulnerable. He quickly recovered and replied. "Frankly, I'm more worried that _you_ know about it."

**Atlantis, Mess Hall**

"You _what?"_

Ronon simply shrugged and wolfed down the next bite of his steak. The marines he'd been leading into battle for months now were glad to see him and morale had shot up. Steak from the mess hall was a clear sign. Now though he spoke to John privately. "I told him."

John was torn. A part of him wanted to choke Ronon, another part wondered if maybe he'd just taken the initiative. John had taken such measures to ensure the fewest number of people knew this plan, and now Ronon was spreading the word. "_Why?"_

Taking another bite, Ronon replied. "He's not a heartless bastard. Actually I think he likes Teyla."

John blinked a few times. It didn't seem to register. "Uhh… come again?"

"He likes Teyla; he's not going back to Earth."

"What do you mean _'he likes Teyla'?" _John's voice raised just a tad – Ronon was being less than helpful.

"Uhh... He likes her?" Ronon gave John a confused look – almost as if he questioned John's intelligence. "It's messed up but he says she makes him feel whole again."

"_Whole again?"_

Ronon took a break in his eating and downed half a glass of water. "His words, not mine. He likes to talk."

John tugged on his hair – Ronon evidently didn't know the meaning of the word 'secret'. "Apparently, so do you. How did this get to telling him the plan?"

Ronon shrugged again, and continued eating. "Teyla likes him too, He can help."

It was by far the _last_ thing John expected. "I-I'm speechless." The shock had rendered John unable to think straight. It took him several moments to recover and squeeze the bridge of his nose. "So what'd he say?"

"He'll work with Teyla and the refugees. Not much else he can really do."

"I heard he's a decent shot for a civilian." John suggested. Ronon held one hand out and made a 'Sorta' gesture. John almost felt insulted on Daniel's behalf. "Well, of course if you compare him with us…"

Ronon snorted and swallowed the bite he'd taken. "Who else would I compare him to?"

John rubbed his forehead – this headache had become permanent.

**Daedalus Cargo Bay 3**

Sam looked around the somewhat large space inside the new section of Daedalus and "So these new pods have lab and machine shop equipment?"

Caldwell nodded and motioned to the shiny new bulkheads. He rubbed his hand along it – Sam could see how proud he was. "At the moment we don't really have any need for them, so power has been cut and the space used for cargo." He turned and motioned to the empty space. "Most of it's been taken already. If we run into any supplies out there, we can definitely hold it." He led Sam down towards the door and out.

Sam noticed the walls seemed much closer than the size of the bay would suggest. "I noticed on the schematics you've gotten more ammunition for your weapons. I'm guessing these pods are also magazines?"

Caldwell nodded. "A section of each new pod is a reinforced spare magazine for our railgun and missile storage. Our Mark Four capacity has gone up from sixty-four to ninety-six, Mark Eights are up to twenty from ten, and Mark Nines are up to ten from six. Add that to another ten minutes worth of continuous railgun fire and another eight 302s and we're a battleship."

Sam was almost disturbed by how much munitions the Refit-304s carried, and she hadn't even seen the new primary weapons yet. "That's a lot of firepower. What about the Asgard Beams? The report said the forward guns have been modified."

Caldwell motioned for Sam to follow. The ship seemed much larger than it used to for Sam. She listened as Caldwell spoke. "The new forward cannons are definitely a lot different than what we're used to. Major Marks says it's like god shootin' spitballs." He chuckled, and turned back to Sam. "On our way in we noticed a few cruisers a little closer to a planet than I felt was comfortable. We gave the whole system a test run."

Sam raised her eyebrows, she hadn't known Caldwell to relish battle. "And? I'm assuming they worked well."

Caldwell smirked and nodded. "That would be an understatement, whole thing lasted two minutes."

"Wow." Sam was impressed. "Guess I'm really in for a treat then."

The older Colonel simply nodded and continued to lead her through the ship. After a minute or two of walking past technicians, uniformed soldiers and officers as well as the actual crew, they reached a new section that gave Sam goosebumps.

Caldwell noticed, and shivered himself. "Yeah you feel that? It's part of the new design for the forward guns. Felger said something about magnetic fields and tingling."

Sam nodded and was amazed that it was actually working. "I didn't know they'd already been able to develop the magnetic coils, with the individual hardened naquadria generators, along with the new superconductive alloys that..." Seeing Caldwell give her a completely vacant expression, Sam stopped. "Don't suppose you want to hear how it's actually supposed to work?"

Caldwell rolled his eyes. "Unless you can do it using words with less than three syllables, don't bother."

_Challenge Accepted! - _"Hmmm okay; Think of the regular Asgard beams like a Railgun, charges up, and fires in one massive burst, very powerful and very destructive, but against Ancient Shields it loses some of its bite. The science behind these new upgrades though is magnetic casing and controlled discharges." She looked to Caldwell and saw he was keeping up so she continued. "Basically, instead of one massive burst, it fires a pulse that is technically weaker than the full beam, but it can fire a lot of them in a much narrower stream. Think of it like armor and shield piercing plasma shells. It won't do as much widespread damage, but it has much better penetration."

Caldwell blinked several times before shaking his head. "Do you have any idea how complicated Felger back home made that sound?"

Sam groaned in sympathy. "Well… to be honest I'm _really_ dumbing it down… not to sound offensive or anything."

Caldwell shook his head and scoffed. "Please, I can't even figure out the seven ways I can use the toaster oven in the mess."

A wince from Sam, and the realization that science just wasn't for the action oriented people.

**June 6****th**** 2008**

**Atlantis Conference Room**

"Alright folks, this is the game plan." Sam began, the faces starting back at her around the conference table all looked hardened, but still willing. "We can wait for the Wraith and Replicators to find us and lock us in a siege, a siege I might add we have little chance of winning, or we can take the fight to them."

Ronon growled softly and looked to Sam with expectant eyes. "About damn time." Sam nodded back.

To his side, Larrin clicked her tongue. "What exactly do you mean_ take the fight to them_?"

Sam turned to look at the full conference room. It had been awhile since holding a meeting with so many people and she felt oddly comforted. With John and Caldwell sitting next to her, Zelenka, Mila, Keller and Lorne on one end, Teyla, Daniel, Ronon and Larrin on the other, it was certainly a full house. "The fact of the matter is we need more power. Even with your advanced reactors, we still don't have enough power to run the city to the point where we could hold off a siege for any lengthy period of time. The city might be running at two-thirds power right now, but comparing the amount of Naquadah we need compared to the stored power in a ZPM for any long term commitment, it's a losing battle."

Zelenka fixed his glasses for a moment and then spoke. "I have drawn up plans to make grid more agreeable with different power sources; Such as the Asgard Neutrino Ion reactors and Naquadria Generators."

Sam shook her head. "That's good Radek, but we really don't have use for either, the Neutrino Ion reactors put out a lot of power, but we don't have very much fuel for it since we can't really harvest neutrinos from a protostar easily. Even though we can make Naquadria back on Earth, we've got no facilities for it here in Atlantis."

"Actually." Caldwell interrupted. "That's not entirely true anymore. Daedalus's new lab has a miniature particle accelerator thingy that Felger says can make Naquadria. The IOA insisted it be put it in there in case we find ourselves on a long term mission." He seemed apprehensive about it. "I'll admit I'm not too comfortable having it on my ship."

Sam was a little surprised, but she kept it hidden. "Well then, we can pull the accelerator out and put in here in Atlantis. We can stockpile some Naquadria just in case it comes down to it but I agree, it's too unstable to have large quantities lying around." She paused for e moment before adding. "Especially if we might come under siege." Sam couldn't help but remember watching video of Kelowna's Naquadria bomb. The devastation the isotope could cause was profound.

Teyla held her hand up suddenly – Sam nodded and waved to her. "Pardon, but what of the refugees? Will we follow the IOA's recommendation and send them to the mainland?"

Everyone remained quiet for a few moments. Sam looked around and saw in everyone's faces the answer. She noted John straighten and gave him an slight nod to let him speak. He stood and spoke confidently. "I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say, '_Over my dead body_.'"

Caldwell scoffed. "Maybe not mine, but I sure as hell don't want to kick 'em out."

Seeing that the leadership was unanimous, Sam smiled and nodded once. "Agreed. So that's tabled. The refugees stay. Now we move to the next issue, supplies."

Sam motioned to Lorne who blew a long sigh before speaking. "As far as food goes, we've got four months without rationing. Most of it's non-perishable so any foods our teams are bringing back are being used immediately."

Adding to Lorne's analysis, Jennifer spoke with a slightly more worried tone. "We're worse off with medical supplies to be honest. We got a large shipment of medicine a few months ago, but if injuries and sickness keep going the way they are, we'll start running out of anti-biotics in two months. Not to mention anti-septics, supplements." Sam noted how tired Jennifer looked – she wasn't the young and fresh Doctor she'd come to know on Atlantis anymore.

Caldwell cleared his throat. "Actually, the Daedalus has a new shipment for you. Courtesy of General O'Neill and last minute changes to the manifest."

More sighs of relief, it seemed that even though things were quite bad, they weren't as bad as they _could _be. Sam continued with her briefing despite realizing that O'Neill had been able to follow through on something she'd requested. "I'll have to send him a thank you card. Now, back to power, Colonel Sheppard and Larrin have come up with a plan to potentially get more power for the base in case we come under siege. It's risky, but I think in the end it'll be worth it." The entire group remained silent as they listened to Sam. "As we know, Aurora Class Battleships use a ZPM as their main power source. We contemplated trying to steal them before but since our ARG's are only effective for a short time before they adapt, we ruled it out during the raid on Asuras." A moment of silence, Sam didn't blame them. "But I think with the upgrades Daedalus has gotten, along with Traveler particle weapon technology, we stand a chance of disabling one of those Asuran Wolfpacks and raiding their ships for the ZPMs."

Everyone was silent; it was a hard thing to imagine. Larrin spoke up. "I'll have to talk to my captains. I know three will volunteer for sure, but I'll put it to them and see who joins up."

Sam nodded and handed a tablet across to Larrin. "That's good to know, here, that's the basic strategy Colonel Sheppard and I have planned." She handed another tablet to Caldwell who eagerly looked it over. "I want your opinions and suggestions; no casualties is best case scenario."

Caldwell coughed softly and cleared his throat. "I've got no worries about Daedalus. On our way into Pegasus we ran into some Wraith Cruisers. Nothing worth mentioning with our new guns. And with our shields, even against three Auroras we can definitely bug out fast enough if things get rough." He looked to Larrin and made a somewhat apologetic face. "No offense but I'd rather not see more of your people get hurt."

"Your concern is heartwarming." Larrin replied tersely.

It was obvious Larrin didn't like Caldwell much, but before Sam could say anything, John cut in. "Yes! It is, in any case if you'll read beyond the first page, we're planning on upgrading your shielding anyway to mitigate the risk."

The more technically minded people in the room began to mumble to themselves. Zelenka clicked his tongue a few times and interjected. "Excuse me, but the Traveler Technology is so different from our own, that it would take a significant amount of time to modify their shield emitters."

Sam nodded and sighed softly. She hoped General O'Neill had pulled through with that request. "I know, but against three Aurora Class battleships there's no other option. Asuras proved that we don't have the firepower to take them on strategically, so we're going to have to tactically win this fight."

A few moments of silence, and unexpectedly, Mila of all people broke it. "You want to do _what_ with my ship?"

It was by far the most unforeseen comment those seated could have thought.

**Secluded Atlantis Balcony**

"Uhh…" John noticed the panic in Larrin's eyes as she walked onto the balcony. She spoke quietly. "I didn't know we were handing out invitations."

"Come on." John replied. He looked to the edge where Sam, Ronon, Daniel, and Teyla were waiting.

Larrin decided to stand alone as John stood next to Sam. Ronon, Teyla and Daniel made their own little group to the side. "Alright, so what's so important we've got to meet in the ass-end of the city?"

No one laughed, and John quickly got to it. "Well, you were all there for the briefing, and we all know about the Wormhole Drive. None of us wants to send the refugees out of the city…" He looked to Larrin now with emphasis. "… and if your people decide to take off on their own, they'll get hunted down by either the Wraith or the Replicators."

Sam nodded – her voice was uncharacteristically quiet to John's ears. "The upgrades we mentioned for your ships. I'm _bending_ the rules and giving you components instead of just upgrading yours. I had to convince General O'Neill to sneak them aboard Daedalus as relief supplies since the IOA doesn't want to give out any technology."

Teyla pulled slightly away from Daniel and Ronon, her obvious pregnancy putting her slightly off balance. "Then there are no extra medical supplies for Dr Keller?"

Sam shook her head. "No, there _are_ medical supplies, just not as much as the manifest says. The General made it look like a shipping error and some IOA bureaucrat is going to get a stern talking to once Caldwell realizes half the medical crates were filled with electronic..." Sam almost shuddered as she spoke. "…_doohickeys_ as the General put it."

Daniel rolled his eyes and continued. "Medical supplies will be the least of our concerns if we don't get somewhere. What about the refugees? I mean, us knowing is all well and good, but until we can tell them they still think they're trapped here until we either run out of supplies and they _have_ to leave, or the Wraith and/or Replicators take out the city."

John shook his head, the bitterness in his voice was plain even to him."_No. _We can't tell _anyone _else who we can't trust to stay quiet. Not even Zelenka really knows everything we're planning yet. One loose mouth and the IOA'll send a battalion to enforce their idiotic orders." It was obvious John wasn't at all pleased with the latest batch of orders from the IOA. "No. The only reason _I'm_ even still here is they think I'm not willing to disobey their orders when it comes right down to it. As soon as they even catch wind of this plan, they'll drag me kicking and screaming through the gate and lock me up."

John wastched Sam give him a tiny smirk, but Larrin outright chuckled. "That I'd like to see."

"_Anyways…" _John resisted the urge to argue, this wasn't the time. "Caldwell thinks we're going after the ZPMs to power the city to survive a siege, but thatjust creates a whole different problem for us anyway. We can only last four or five months here and that's if we're not attacked. The Replicators already have the strength to hit us on the ocean floor, and the Wraith are going to try and bide their time. If we run on hyperdrive, they'll just hunt us down. The Wormhole Drive is our only escape." He looked around, nobody wanted to contradict him. "Zelenka and Mila have made a lot of progress on the drive and they think they're almost ready to actually use it. This brings up one last problem." He turned to Sam who turned away from him – he was alone in this. "If we do go ahead with this. Daedalus is gonna try and stop us. I know Caldwell. He's by the book and if the IOA orders him to stop us, he'll try."

John desperately wanted Sam to look at him, but she refused. The others all murmured quietly until Ronon spoke. "You're gonna take out Daedalus?"

"No, but their crew is mostly fresh from Earth." He sighed and shook his head. "Probably all of them are gonna follow orders from the IOA if we do this. So I need you…" He pointed to Larrin with a confident tone. "…to pick a team from your people who have any combat experience inside ships apart from the crew I already asked you to prepare. Once we have the ZPM's, I want to take Daedalus with no casualties when they land, and either send it home without a chance for them to stop us, or if we have to, take it with us."

Sam again shifted uncomfortably –finally she turned to look at him and all he could see was accusation in her face. He gave her a little nod to let her know they'd talk afterwards.

Ronon continued."Most of the newer marines'll follow the IOA. I've hand picked a few I think would be willing to help. Maybe we could tell them?"

"Oh no! Not this time." John chided. Ronon narrowed his eyes at him, but John held strong. "You're not telling anyone else until we can be sure they won't talk." He sighed and looked at Daniel. "No offense Doc, but I wasn't exactly planning on you finding out."

Daniel shrugged and feigned hurt. "Oh that's alright. No one ever tells me anything important anyway. At least not until it's too late."

"Yeah well." John noted the slight amusement – Daniel could sure lower tension. "I _am_ glad you're here Doc. You and Teyla keeping the refugees calm means a lot and don't think I don't appreciate that." Daniel said nothing but nodded in reply. That left only one thing to talk about. "Alright, one last thing. I want you all to test the waters with our own people."

"But you just said…" Ronon began.

"Now hold on." John interrupted. "I'm not saying tell them what we're planning." John sighed again – this entire experience was draining the life out of him. "Just…okay, yesterday I talked to Chuck and I asked him what he'd do if he went back home. it was really relaxed and he didn't really suspect anything. He said he'd want to stay here if he could since he's been here so long and to him, it _feels_ like home."

Teyla nodded and smiled as she chuckled softly. "I can think of a few people who might say the same."

"That's good." John motioned to Teyla. "But then again look at Banks. I asked her what she'd do and I got some long-winded answer about four brothers and sisters. She's not going to like the idea of leaving Earth behind." It had been difficult to ask these questions knowing what was going to happen – he could see in everyone's faces the hopes and fears. "That's what I want you all to do, test the waters, don't give up any information, and we'll decide as a group whether to let them know or not."

I like that idea." Larrin nodded, but then looked to Sam. "but how'd _you_ find out if you don't mind me asking? I would have thought you'd be against something like this."

Sam shifted her head about uncomfortably and looked to everyone else. "Well, I'll be honest. I'm _not_ thrilled. I only found out a week after the Wraith attacked Midway and that's because I figured it out myself." Sam turned to John – that accusing face again. John shifted uncomdortably himself now. "That doesn't mean I'm willing to abandon all these people, or Atlantis. I'm still not too sure what to think, but I don't think the IOA has the answer." It was an indecisive answer, but John realized it was the only honest one she could give.

John could see the worry in Larrin's face, as well as Teyla and Ronon. To his gracious surprise, Daniel spoke. "It's okay Sam." he looked to the others and sighed. "I don't know what to think either if I'm truly honest, but I'm not going to say anything, and I trust Sam when she says she won't either."

"I trust Sam with my life, and so should all of you." John turned to Sam and sighed.. "I can't believe you'd be willing to abandon all these people."

It was an unfair comment, and Sam's resentful half smile and narrowed eyes told John he'd pay for asking it. "Yeah, Well."

John felt their little meeting was over. "Alright… that's all I've got for now. Any questions?" Daniel and Teyla looked to each other for a moment, and then got the group's attention with a clearing of their throats. John turned and nodded. "Yeah? What's up?"

Daniel swallowed in order to speak. "Well, earlier today when I was down in the refugee center, one of them approached me and gave me the address to a planet he suspected was Wraith."

Teyla held a hand up as Ronon and John straightened. "It's not what you think! I know this man personally and can assure you he is no Wraith Worshiper in disguise. His people were long time trade partners with my own and he was one of the first refugees to arrive in Atlantis."

John still didn't like it, but he trusted Teyla. "Alright, keep going Daniel. "

Daniel rubbed his neck and continued. "Yes, well he saw a Wraith using an abandoned building along with strange looking worshipers during the last supply run he volunteered on. He got scared and left before they could see him, but it's bothered him and he finally told me today."

Larrin scoffed softly and shook her head. "Yeah? And this affects us how?"

Daniel nodded in agreement and rubbed his hands together as he replied. "Well normally it wouldn't, but seeing as the Wraith have attacked us so many times, I would have thought you guys might want to fight back. More importantly, doesn't it seem weird to you that the Wraith are using old infrastructure instead of their own?"

Teyla nodded. It is true, the Wraith rarely use old infrastructure that is not their own."

John looked over to Ronon, a slight nod told him they both caught on. When Teyla saw them, she too seemed to catch on. Ronon said quietly. "That's not entirely true."

John nodded. "Michael."

Both Larrin and Daniel asked. "Who?"

John noted that Sam wasn't surprised. It wasn't a shock to him that Sam knew of the strange Wraith as she'd read all their mission reports. "Michael is, or rather _was,_ a Wraith we did some tests on."

"You turned him into a human." Ronon spat. "And he turned back into a Wraith."

John smiled and nodded sarcastically. "Thanks Ronon." he looked to Larrin and then Daniel. "He's been pretty pissed off at us since, and he's been experimenting on people too. We ran into some of his, _failures,_ about a year ago."

Daniel seemed to have lost all the blood in his face, and Teyla took hold of his arm. "What is it Daniel?"

"Tarrus, the man I heard this from…" Daniel said. "…he said he wanted to tell me because he says he saw someone wearing Expedition styled clothing there, and they were being escorted like a prisoner."

John stiffened as did Sam. "A prisoner?"

Daniel nodded and gulped. "A man. He couldn't see exactly who he was."

John turned to Sam with worried look. Sam looked back to him and then turned to Ronon, Daniel, and then back to John. "How many MIA do we have, twelve?"

John nodded. "Yeah, twelve."

Silence reigned in the group until Sam continued as she looked to Ronon. "Do you trust the team I gave you?"

Ronon grumbled softly and nodded. "Completely."

John waited for Sam to make the decision, but he knew what she was going to say "It'll have to wait for tomorrow, but go. If you need help, we'll send reinforcements."

Without pause, Ronon nodded and motioned to Daniel. "Come on, I need that address."

Daniel nodded and looked to the others. "I'll see you later."

The others nodded, and without a word Ronon, Daniel and Teyla moved off having finished their part here. Larrin watched them for a moment, then turned back to John and Sam. "I'm gonna talk to Mila and our engineers, see how long it'll take to install those emitters your people brought."

Larrin turned and walked away, John took a second to breathe in and lowered his head almost shamefully once Larrin was out of earshot. "I'm sorry."

Sam scoffed softly and turned away from him. It was clear she'd done quite a bit of thinking and had come up to the same conclusions he had. "You _better be_. Do you have any idea what an awkward position you're putting me in?"

_Oh yeah, she's pissed. _"Well, I guess that depends whether you stay or go."

Sam smiled scornfully at John. "Wrong. Let's say you do succeed and you take Atlantis, Daedalus. What happens to the people who don't want to go with you? What about the casualties?"

John tried to keep calm. "Dial Earth, send 'em home, or if we can make sure Daedalus goes back, put 'em there."

"Oh? And what will the IOA do to them?"

"Well, there'll be an investigation. Probably try and figure out how it happened." It was clear and John had to face it. "Probably blame you."

"Bingo." Sam sighed heavily and shook her head as she looked out to the ocean. "This is my command and if you turn traitor, then it's considered my fault. I'll have an inquiry into my command abilities, at the least they'll demote me. Probably kick me out of the SGC." It was obvious Sam was feeling frustrated. "Even if they don't kick me out at the very least they won't give me another command, or even let me offworld." She turned back towards John. "My career; my _life _would be over."

John understood – he wished to God he didn't. "Well, your career in the military. You could work for the private sector, still get something done."

"But not this…" Sam motioned to the city itself, and her face tensed with regret. "Maybe a few years ago I could have done it, but I've spent the last 12 years with the SGC. I don't know if I can do anything else anymore."

"What about all these people?"

"_That's not fair!_" Sam barked at him. John flinched at how she suddenly screamed. "_Goddamn it, _You _know_ I want to save these people! But you're asking me to break every oath I've based my life on, or go back and…" Sam stopped – her hand had come up and was now a fist of frustration. She turned and cursed under her breath – just enough for John to understand.

John quietly offered. "I could send a note. Tell them it was a snap decision – you could have never seen it coming."

"Oh really? You'll stun me and toss me through the gate?"

John shrugged – the idea had its merits. "That _would_ cover you as far as collaborating with us."

Sam shoved him hard enough that it hurt a bit – playful or not she was serious. "_Don't_ even think about it. I'm not going to abandon these people, but I'm not about to hoist the pirate flag with you."

John looked away from Sam, it was getting harder and harder to face her each day. "I'm sorry Sam. I-I never wanted to..."

"Don't bother." Sam replied. There was no sympathy in her reply. "I just want to make sure you understand that doing this is going to affect a lot of people. Not all of those people are going to be as, _understanding_ as I am."

"Well then help me work this out!" John replied. He was getting a little tired of getting blamed.

"I'm _trying_." Sam replied just as tersely. "But there aren't any options."

"Then what's the problem?"

"The _problem_ is there's no way out!" Sam screamed at him again – he'd never heard her raise her voice like this. "You're forcing me to choose between _my life_ and _my morals_!"

"Well that's an easy choice to me!" John barked – he knew when to make his stand.

"_Not to me!_ I'm not _ready_ to leave everything behind. Unlike _you_ I still _have_ a life back there!" Sam's words cut deep, and John knew he wasn't going to win this. "_Goddamn it John!_ I'm _not_ comfortable with this, but I can't see any other way and it's _killing me_!"

John closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. It was all true, and only because of that was he willing to forgive her personal attack. "Damnit." He muttered quietly before raising his voice. "_Damnit Sam. _I…" He breathed deeply – he needed to regain some calm. "I never meant to drag you into this."

It took much longer than he expected for Sam to reply. She turned away and looked around at the towers of Atlantis. Nearly a minute passed before she said in a soft voice. "It's not your fault. I don't blame you."

"_Yes, _it is." John knew his responsibilities – what drove him to make the decisions he'd made. He held a hand up to keep Sam silent. "_I _woke the Wraith four years ago. _I_ let Rodney talk me into reactivating the Replicator Attack Code. _I'm _the one planning a coup. This is _all_ _my_ fault."

Sam shook her head, but she didn't offer him any sympathy. John wasn't sure whether their strange friendship now merited a hug from her, or an asskicking. "You're not the one killing people, John. You didn't know the replicators would do this. You did it because you thought they would _get rid_ of the Wraith."

"Ignorance isn't an excuse. How many innocents suffer because of my decisions? You just gave me shit for that two…"

"_That's because you do!" _Sam screamed again – not even letting him finish. She ran her hands through her hair and paced back and forth. John certainly saw that angry Sam wasn't one to trifle with. "_God_ sometimes I just want to _strangle_ you-_you impulsive…" _Her voice quieted. John could see that strange look on her face as she calmed down and returned to a decent volume. "_h__ero_."

John was stunned. It took a few seconds for the words to reach his mouth. "_Impulsive hero?"_

Sam scoffed in a half laugh; John could swear she was between laughter and tears. "Yeah. Too bad you can be a _real idiot_ sometimes too." Sam rubbed her head and let out a groan. "It's a good thing you're cute. it's hard to stay mad at you." She chuckled quietly and covered her eyes.

John on the other hand was wondering if she'd lost her mind. "_Cute?"_

"It's a plus, trust me." Sam took a moment to regain her control before letting out a loud breath and looking straight at him. "Look, _I'm still pissed off_. But there's still a lot we need to work out and things we haven't considered. Let's just do our jobs, and hopefully something else will come up."

John couldn't think of anything else to say. Sam evidently lost a few marbles when she was pissed so he nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's all we _can_ do right now."

Sam patted him on the shoulder and motioned with her head. "Come on, I don't want to fight anymore."

"Alright, but it's not over yet."

Sam blew a long sigh as she fixed her hair – there was still lots of operations to handle back in the city. "Not by a long shot."

**June 7****th**** 2008**

**Wraith Orbital Shipyard**

_"My Lord!"_

Todd turned and scowled. "You interrupt me at a critical moment!"

The sub-commander didn't care, the news was bad. "We are under attack! A strike force through the ring on the planet!"

Turning his head, Todd switched to the Wraith Battlenet. The fight on the planet was clearly one-sided and whoever it was they were gaining ground. Mere minutes and the force would reach the ground component of the shipyard where transports were ready to take off. "What of our alert darts?"

"Destroyed sir, they have Wraith Technology and will be upon the shipyard shortly."

Todd growled softly, and seeing that whoever it was had chosen the perfect moment to strike, decided to take a risk. "Have our troops enter the prototype... seal off all airlocks and dart bays. Move!"

The Sub-commander gulped, but seeing that Todd was serious, hoped that his experiment was stable enough to survive.

**Sateda, Gate Area**

"Uh, why do I get the feeling that-" Dusty began.

Ronon turned and gave her a look that silenced her. The rest of the team were equally surprised at the broken and abandoned buildings around them. A citadel graveyard of buildings. "We'll get there. This is somewhere special for me."

Ronon turned to face the team he'd taken under his wing. All of them used to combat and numbed to violence, but more importantly, they'd seen the faces of the people they were saving. Ronon couldn't see any of them following the IOA's orders when push came to shove. They were unique. Sergeant 'Dusty' Mehra and Captain Alicia Vega. Both had seen combat on Earth, as well as in the conflict with the Ori. Ronon hadn't fought the Ori but he knew that both women had been changed by the conflict. Mehra retreated into humor to cope, while Vega remained cool and collected as a sniper should. He respected them both for their contributions –and even more, not even talking about going back to Earth.

The other was Lieutenant Dan Drake, newcomer to Atlantis but Ronon could see through his tough façade – he was a man of honor and would defend the defenseless with everything he had. Ronon had seen him merciless gut a Wraith with its own stunner rifle – all the while emptying a handgun into its face. That kind of ability only came with true control of one's emotions. Ronon knew Dan was dangerous, and his being here on Atlantis meant that he wasn't shying away from difficulties.

Ronon trusted them all – Much like Sheppard they'd seen reason and despite their keen soldier abilities, never lost that touch of humanity that made them special. He'd seen Mehra play with the refugee children to cheer them up. Vega had coordinated supply distribution fairly and treated them all with respect. What surprised Ronon most of all was seeing Dan once give a chocolate bar from his vest to a refugee child who looked lost – then carrying him back to find his guardians. Ronon hadn't told any of them that he'd seen it happen – he didn't want them to feel obliged.

He had no doubt where their loyalties lay. "You're right Mehra, this isn't the planet we're heading to. But I wanted to talk privately, _away_ from Atlantis."

Of them all, Vega was the first to say something. "Okay, we're in the middle of a fallout movie. What'd you wanna talk about?"

Ronon liked that Vega was could be so outspoken, namely because she usually asked the right questions. "Atlantis, and Earth."

"What about 'em?" Ronon still had to get used to Drake's strange accent. "You asking if I'm gonna book it, don't bother." Drake carried a P90 and a trio of handguns – along with a vest of assorted tools and equipment.

Mehra shrugged her shoulders. "Well, you know me, not enough bad guys to shoot in the Milky Way anymore." She gripped her P90 tighter, but a small combat shotgun strapped to her back told Ronon she was ready for anything.

Now everyone looked at Vega. Ronon noticed how she cradled her sharpshooter variant of the FN-SCAR-H, not a weapon he was used to seeing on Atlantis until recently. "I'm not about to run if that's what you're asking."

Ronon sighed softly and turned back to the world around him. "What if you had to choose?" He could hear the soldiers behind him shuffle – they were obviously trying to silently ask each other. "You know where we are?" No one replied. "This is Sateda. I was born here."

It finally dawned on them. Ronon listened as they moved out and checked the area – Mehra was the first to reply. "The Wraith?"

"Yes." Ronon turned back to them. "I brought you here so you know where I stand. I fought here for days when the Wraith attacked. I lost my home, my family, everything I loved. That was nine years ago and now?" He sighed again and bowed his head. "I might have been born here, but Atlantis is my home now. _No one_ is taking me away from it." He gave each of them a stare before walking towards the DHD. "All I'm asking you where your home is, and whether you can walk away from it."

Nobody replied, so Ronon just dialed the DHD.

**Atlantis Supply Room E-23 **

"You sure you want to do this Teyla?"

Despite the strain of carrying the child within her, Teyla knew that doing nothing would only upset her more. "Yes, Daniel, I am sure." Daniel's obvious care for her wellbeing wasn't a new thing. His sincerity despite hardly knowing her was what won him over in her mind. He seemed _passionate_.

"Good, but just in case." Daniel handed her a stunner pistol. "I don't want to carry one either, but I've learned that nothing makes people more desperate than not knowing what's going to happen to them."

Major Lorne was standing to the side and had another pistol in his hand. "He's right Teyla. Remind him to tell you about the little incident at a Naquadah mine back in the Milky Way."

Daniel winced. Teyla gave him a curious look to which he replied. "Let's just say the Major developed a new appreciation for cultures beyond Earth, or human for that matter."

Lorne scoffed softly and waved over two of the new marines that had come on the Daedalus. Both looked rougher than the marines Teyla was used to. They reminded her of Colonel Everett. "Yeah, that and nearly blow out my knees waiting for him to master interspecies negotiations."

Teyla chuckled and smiled at Lorne. "I am glad you survived the encounter then. Daniel seems to have improved his negotiation skills, so I do not think your knees are at any risk today."

Lorne snorted and motioned ahead. "One can only hope." He turned to the marines and gave a quick salute that they returned smartly. "Alright, standard escort job. No live ammo and only stunners. Flash bangs if it's a crowd but I want pure non-lethal. This is a humanitarian supply run – We'll escort the Doc and Teyla in, find out which refugees need what, and then escort them out for Keller and the grunts to bring in the packages. Understood?"

Teyla noted that the Marines didn't seem apprehensive at all, and instead checked their equipment. Each was armed with several of the stun grenades. She turned to Daniel, who clearly saw the worry in her face. "Yeah, I don't like it either. But I've dealt with enough situations like this to know that it's for the best, one false move and we lose control."

Teyla nodded softly, seeing the logic in what Daniel was saying. "True, but I just wish we didn't have to deliver food and medical treatment under guard."

"Ditto."

**Atlantis, Control Room**

"So the system automatically scans for lifeforms within the city, but unless we use RFID tags…"

Larrin blinked and smacked Chuck on the shoulder softly. "Quit it."

Chuck flinched at the strike and turned to face off with the Traveler woman even as they sat. Teaching her about the City was getting to be a full time job and her casual approach to it was getting unnerving. What was Colonel Sheppard thinking giving this woman the ability to monitor the city? "Quit what?"

"_That!"_

Chuck shook it from his head and repeated himself. "What's '_that'_?"

Larrin didn't seem to register that he didn't understand. She motioned her head at him and glared. "_That."_

Chuck had thought himself lucky to be working with this woman, he'd been caught more than once by Banks peeking at her curves, but now all he wanted was to deck her. "_What is 'that'?"_

Larrin started to laugh – evidently she found Chuck's confusion amusing. "_That_! What the hell is _Are-eff-eye-dee_?"

"And you couldn't _just say that?" _Chuck didn't know what else to say. He could see Banks smiling and repressing a giggle behind him, while a few other technicians nearby pulled obvious tics. He liked to get a laugh but _not like this._

Larrin chuckled and reached out for his face. "Aww… it's okay." She pinched his cheek – he resisted every urge to jolt away. "You can't help it. Just remember I've only known your people for a few months so I don't know anything about what you call your technology."

He heard Banks crack and titter just a bit – it was lucky this was downtime. He took a calming breath, wiped this memory from his brain and turned back to the console. "Okay. Back to operations…"

**Atlantis, Sam's Office**

"From what I can tell, the Traveler shield technology is actually quite similar to the Asgard just using less advanced materials." John nodded mindlessly as Radek and Sam explained to Mila what they were going to do with the shields. He'd stayed because there was little else he could do now – the IOA marines were watching him like a hawk and going off-world was offlimits.

The math was all very mindnumbing to him but at least it was amusing to see Radek and Sam trying to explain in layman's. The Traveler girl sat with her palm holding her face, and one eyebrow raised. She'd asked them not to use 'crazy Earth words'

Sam continued where Radek left off. "Your ships use a capacitor to store energy for the shields that's constantly charging up to a limit. If the shields take damage, it draws power from that capacitor to replenish them. To contrast, Atlantis' shield draws directly from the main power grid which means it'll stay up as long as the city has power."

Mila nodded. John couldn't help but smile at how she splayed out on the couch. She didn't seem to get Earth style social norms. "Our way is easier on the emitters, they last longer with a controlled amount of power going through them rather than everything that hits them. Hard to get replacement parts for those."

Sam nodded, and shot John a look that told him she clearly knew he was understanding it too. "That's right, but it also makes a for a little problem. Here…" She drew an X on the whiteboard. "Let's pretend this letter represents the amount of energy the shields have at any one moment." She then drew a Y beside it. "And this is how much power is in the capacitor."

"So a letter means a number?"

"Exactly."

"So you mean _Comenbines_ math?"

John screwed his face and stared at Mila. "Say _what_?"

Sam also looked confused, but Radek was the one to speak. "Could you perhaps elaborate, Mila?"

"_Comen'bin'es _math is for theory." Mila explained. "It's a way to show someone how to solve a problem without knowing the exact numbers."

Sam looked stunned for a moment, but then nodded. "Uh, yes. We call it Algebra." She turned to Radek who merely shrugged. "Alright, then this should make sense. As long as the capacitor has power, the shields will be able to repel just about anything within that power limit."

Mila shook her head. "What about the emitters? I thought that's what you wanted to talk about."

Radek groaned and shook his hands to take over for Sam. This was more entertaining than John had hoped for. "Yes yes yes, that is variable in equation, here." Using a different colored marker, Radek added a Z as well as an E to the equation. "The emitters are sort of limiter as far as shield potential. If the energy draining shields is higher than emitters physical conductivity can handle, the remaining energy passes through unobstructed."

Mila screwed her face, but then nodded and sat up straight. "Oh, so _that's_ why they always get hot enough to cook on."

John had to struggle not to laugh as Radek muttered softly to himself in Czech and Sam winced. His day might not be productive as he wanted, but at least it wasn't as dreary as he'd thought it was going to be.

**Asuran Battlegroup Over Proculus**

"The Battlegroup is approaching orbital position, bombardment pattern laid in."

The Asuran at the helm nodded and input the attack code into his arm console. "Move into attack formation and commence purging. Target villages and…"

An alarm began to ring, and the sensor officer called it out. "Electrical disturbance detected!"

The crew turned their attention to what looked like an electrical storm flying across the orbit. "Analysis."

The sensor officer was still working on it as the storm drew nearer. "No natural cause determined, sensors report it is an artificial storm."

"Raise shields, order the group to raise shields as well."

Acknowledgment, and now curiosity as the storm drew closer. "Still no cause?"

"No, it is approaching."

The Storm washed over the first Aurora, and to everyone's surprise the lightning completely ignored the Battleship's shields and tore the ship apart like wet tissue. The Asuran commander got to his feet and was about to order a retreat when the storm accelerated and the turned the other two Auroras to dust.

All that left the Asuran ships before they were reduced to molten wreckage was a warning to avoid this planet.

**Atlantis Control Room**

"Chuck…?"

The much too Canadian technician turned in his seat and nodded to her. "Yo."

Amelia narrowed an eye at him "Excuse me?"

"Yo."

Amelia assumed that just because Larrin was flirting with him, he'd decided to become casual. That's not what she was here for and just ignored it since he _was _the senior here. "Can you double check this? I've got a strange reading and I want to be sure before I bug Colonel Carter."

Chuck got up and walked over. He looked at the readings Amelia had found and raised both his eyebrows. "What the?"

Amelia nodded at the signal. "Yeah… that's what I said."

To Amelia's surprise, Larrin moved over as well curiously. "Is it a secret or should I guess?"

Despite Colonel Sheppard's orders, Amelia didn't exactly trust the Traveler. It had nothing to do with her personality, more to do with the professionalism of it. "Colonel Carter, please report to the control room."

Larrin frowned at Amelia and slapped Chuck on the shoulder as they stood in front of her. "What is it? Carter's going to tell me anyway."

Amelia looked up at Chuck who opened his mouth, but then swallowed and replied. "Sorry. I'm sure Colonel Carter would tell you as well but I have my chain of command."

Larrin rolled her eyes and turned away muttering to herself. "Yeah yeah, whatever."

Amelia looked up at Chuck who looked dejected. She whispered. "_Don't worry, not like you ever had a chance."_

Chuck harrumphed and looked at Larrin as she paced away slowly. "_Challenge Accepted."_

LINEBREAK

Sam had finished with Mila and the group left her office at Sergeant Banks' call. John followed behind her while Mila and Radek moved off to work on more engineering needs. To Sam's surprise, Larrin approached and was the first to speak. "Good, you're here. Maybe now I'll find out what's got those two so eager to dock a shuttle."

Sam screwed her face in confusion. It took a second for the Atlanteans to understand the idiom. Before Sam could say anything, Amelia muttered. "_Excuse me_?"

Larrin gave them both a less than friendly smile. "Don't deny it. I see the way you look at each other."

_What the hell is going on? – _Chuck looked stunned, while John stifled a laugh. Sam knew that rising to meet this ridiculous joke would only end badly so she stayed quiet. Chuck didn't seem to have that problem though as he nervously stood still. "Uh, _what?"_

Amelia looked to Sam, then to Larrin, and finally to Chuck. Sam could see she wanted to snipe back but seeing two ranking officers here, held her hands up and disengaged. "Okay, not getting involved."

Sam finally saw an opening, she scooted over beside Amelia and nodded. John had moved over to where Chuck was and smiled at the childish "Uh, you called me down?"

Amelia pointed to the screen. "Yes ma'am. I just double checked, we've lost three Auroras from our sensors." Lo and behold, three circles marked out the last known location of the Asuran Wolfpack.

Everyone in the room tensed, but John was the one to ask. "What do you mean _lost?_ Were they destroyed by the Wraith?"

Chuck shook his head. "Not unless they can take them all out in less than a minute. All three vanished from our sensors at the same time. Whatever took 'em out did it all at once."

Sam wondered what could possibly do that so quickly. Daedalus and Apollo could take on an Aurora each with little issue, but three in less than a minute? "Where were they last detected?"

Amelia pulled up the information, and a planet with a gate address showed up on the large plasma screen. "Triangulating, there we go. The database says Proculus."

Sam thought carefully, it sounded familiar. She then noticed both John and Chuck suddenly look at each other with concern. "Are you reading any Wraith in that area?"

Amelia shook her head. "No, Ma'am. Not even close."

Larrin walked up and looked at the galactic map. Sam realized that she'd asked for this information and Chuck and Amelia had done their duty to follow the chain of command – inadvertently offending her. "I've never been there, I don't like the stories I've heard though. Weird stuff if you can believe it."

Sam turned to Larrin, and could see John shifting around uncomfortably. Chuck also seemed apprehensive but buried himself into his console. Sam took a second to think, then nodded to John. "You know something?"

John swallowed his breath – a clear sign. "Yeah, it's uh, we've been there before." He motioned with his head gently to the side, Sam interpreted it correctly as he wanted to speak privately, and she turned to Larrin after a moment. "Larrin, do you mind staying and learning more about the operations aspect of the city?"

Larrin seemed to catch on that John was nervous about something. Mercifully, she shrugged and tersely replied. "Okay. Long as pipe and vacuum here tell me what's going on around here."

Sam winced at the idiom – _damn, Travelers don't mess around - _and gave both Chuck and Amelia a sympathetic look. "Yes, for future reference, Larrin is to be considered a foreign military attaché. Any information that isn't directly related to Earth is open to her from now on."

Both technicians nodded, and Larrin turned with a devious smile. "There we go, now I don't want to see either of you with those starry eyes while I'm here."

Seeing how the likelihood of an assault and battery was about to go up, Sam quickly moved off with John and decided to delegate any responsibility to the next highest ranked officer in the room, which just so happened to be Chuck. John led Sam off to the side of the hallway where they had some semblance of privacy in a corner of it. "You know this planet?"

John nodded, and sighed. "It's complicated. A little over three years ago, before we regained contact with Earth, I led my team to search that planet. Turns out there's a culture there that worships an ascended ancient."

Sam's eyebrows rose. "Ascended Ancient? As in, there's an ascended ancient on that planet?"

John nodded and continued. "Her name is Chaya, and to make a long story short, she broke the '_rules'_ the ascended have by saving the people on that planet from the Wraith and they punished her for saving them by only letting her protect _them_, no one else."

Sam finally recalled what he was talking about. "Wait, I've heard about this. She pretends to be her own high priestess and-" Sam quieted as she remembered more. "-and she came to Atlantis because of _you_." Dots began to connect in her head – something she'd missed between them.

John shifted uncomfortably and seemed a little bashful. "Yeah well, it was a long time ago. We wanted to send people to her planet but-"

"She couldn't take them."

"Yeah, she hated that she couldn't but _'The Others' _wouldn't let her."

Sam kept her questions to herself. There were plenty. "I uh, well, if I recall, the report said you went after her." Silence, but a nod confirmed it. "What happened?"

John faced away from Sam, unlike before where it was from shame, she could tell he was in the midst of nostalgia. "She explained it all. By _sharing herself."_

"Wow." Sam muttered. Her assumption had been correct. She wondered if he knew about her own experiences. "I uh…" Sam again flustered. Not exactly something easy to admit. _"Wow."_

"Look, I know what it sounds like." John began. "Girl at every gate notwithstanding-"

"No no no." Sam held her hands up to silence him. "John, I understand." She scoffed at the thoughts that ran through her head. Only Daniel might understand what they'd been through. "I'm probably one of the _only_ people who understands."

John seemed confused for a moment before raising his own eyebrows in surprise. "Wait, you, you mean?" his voice quieted to a whisper. "_You too?"_

Sam nodded and waited a few seconds to reply. "Yeah, Yeah it uh, it was a long time ago. Something like that never leaves you." Silence – Sam now had to wonder, how had it affected John? She'd become more in tune with her emotions and how to express without letting them control – did John act the way he did because of what had happened to him? Did his true personality blossom like hers did? "So, I'm guessing a wolf pack showed up and Chaya defended her people."

John nodded. "I'd assume as much."

"Is there any chance we can send people there? There must be some way we can work something out."

John shook his head. "No, she made it clear. She can't use her powers to protect anyone who isn't a part of her people. 'They' won't let her."

"Can't hurt to try." Sam wasn't ready to tell John _everything_ about Orlin. But she knew Orlin had redeemed himself and there were always loopholes.

John looked like he wanted to argue, but relented. "Alright, but I'm telling you she won't listen to us. Even if I go she'll say the same thing."

"Maybe she'll listen to _me_ then." Sam smiled, and patted John on the shoulder. "Come on, I'll take the flak for you to go off-world."

John silenced and followed Sam. One thing after another just led them to knowing about the most important parts of their lives.

**Abandoned Planet,**

**Ronon's team **

"_What do you see Vega?"_

Alicia focused through the scope as she listened over the radio; the people in the distance came into view. "Looks like two guards. Pegasus clothing, their skin looks weird."

_"Weird as in?" _Ronon asked. She knew that Dusty and Drake were right on his ass – ready to breach at a command.

"Pale blue, almost like a wraith." She sighted in on the one to her left. It was an easy shot – only about fifty meters away. The broken down and dilapidated infrastructure of this place made it easy to find a good perch to pick out targets. Fifty meters wasn't even considered a marksman in her opinion.

Ronon kept quiet for a moment, but then continued. _"Can you take out the one on your left Vega? We're at the corner, we can take the right one."_

Alicia sighted to the right – she could make out the silhouettes of her comrades in the shadows. Quietly she reached into her vest and removed a silencer – the rifle already had a long barrel but this was getting a bit too long. At least fifty meters wasn't far. She let her body relax, one leg scrunched up to act as a bipod, the other bracing herself into the ground. The folding stock of the SCAR nestled nicely into the armor plate of her shoulder. She sighted in – the strange guard was holding a Wraith stunner and looked bored. "Copy. I've got a clean shot. Suppressor in plac."

"_Wait five seconds on my mark, then take the shot. We've got the one on your right. Mark."_

Alicia breathed in and held it. She counted in her head as the crosshair pointed just a little to the left of the guard's heart – countering the wind. On five she squeezed the trigger and felt the kick from the shot. She reset quickly and watched the scene unfold as the strange guard fell to the ground – a dazed reaction before keeling over dead.

* * *

Dusty had charged in first – Ronon was okay with that as he focused on the door. She hipfired her P90 quickly downing the reacting guard without a single shot in retaliation. "Vega! Overwatch! Mehra, on me! Drake, I want a map of this building. Move it!"

With that, he kicked the door open and was surprised when it stopped suddenly from an impact – a reacting guard inside had rushed the door just in time for it to slam into his face. Ronon didn't hesitate and unloaded a pair of shots into him at close range. Dusty swung in beside him and looked ahead – the building's hallways were lined with doors which meant it was going to be a clearing fight. Drake entered behind – a handgun in one hand and a sensor device in the other. "I'm getting weird readings, like something's jamming it."

Ronon growled and looked at the doors ahead of him, whatever was inside was likely to be very dangerous… Just the way he liked it.

**Atlantis Armory **

"Just us?"

Sam nodded and tightened the strap on her Tac-Vest. "No one else free, the refugees are making a lot of noise and I don't trust those Marines the IOA sent to keep the peace." It still pissed her off that the IOA had done such a thing before getting approval from her, but the IOA was the boss and for now at least, she had to listen.

John nodded, and fit his sidearm into his shoulder holster. "P90s?"

"Standard issue." Sam knew they wouldn't need guns here, but she needed everything to be perfect to sell it to the IOA. The recently updated armory included weapons she hadn't expected to come here. A mixture of prototype weaponry from FN-SCARS to XM8s. Racks of anti-tank and anti-air missiles;Stingers, LAWS, AT4s. Atlantis had enough weaponry to invade a country.

It seemed strange to Sam, every offworld mission was being accounted for and she'd relented to receiving a ton of flak during her monthly reviews – that wasn't for another two weeks though. This mission would be _easy _ in comparison to what they'd asked about Ronon's team.

John grumbled softly as he locked his P90 into his vest's lanyard. He muttered. "Don't suppose I can talk you out of this?"

Sam shrugged and loaded her vest with ammo and the standard issue gear. "Can't hurt to ask her."

John sighed and finished loading up. He walked to the exit and waved Sam through. "Ladies first."

Sam rolled her eyes. Despite all their arguments, he could still bring a smirk to her face. "Please, flattery will get you _nowhere_."

John replied with an exaggerated salute. "Yes, Ma'am!"

**Abandoned Planet,**

**Hybrid Warehouse**

Drake grunted as he pistol whipped his would be ambusher into the door jamb and slammed it into him with all his weight. "_Kurvo Jedna!_" He stopped after a three slams and kicked the downed figure in the head. "Ambush only works if you're quiet, bitch." He spit on what was now clearly something akin to a Wraith. Ronon walked up behind him and took hold of the door. He cleared it and moved ahead while Drake composed himself.

The short but surprisingly strong attacker hadn't been the only one, but between their training and Ronon's sheer ferocity, they'd come through alright. More and more Wraith artifacts began to pop up – including what looked like operating theatres. This place was like something out of a nightmare.

The building was old, but there were plenty of newer looking electronics the deeper they went. Dusty had moved ahead and examined it. Drake kept his ears open for anymore would be ambushers. It took a moment to clear the room but it looked like that was it. Dusty looked to both him and Ronon and nodded. "Wraith?

Ronon shook his head and kept his gun up ready for any contact. "Not Wraith. Michael, these things are hybrids."

Dusty gulped softly, and looked around nervously. "_Hybrids?"_

"Half Human, half Wraith. We've run into them before."

"Creepy."

A small clatter and Drake shot a glance to the side where what looked like a closet was, his sidearm up at the ready. "Contact."

Dusty had raised her P90 as well and moved closer – quietly. "Check."

There was no question whether Ronon heard it and he moved forward quietly as we. Grasshopping between cover, Ronon took a moment to radio Vega outside. "Vega, sitrep."

"_Bored. No targets."_

Dusty scoffed softly. "We both know you do your best work laying down."

Drake chuckled – Vega would have rolled her eyes at the comment from Dusty - but kept his focus on moving forward. He kept an eye out for traps but couldn't see any. Ronon grumbled softly and clicked his radio again. "Keep an eye out, we might have missed someone."

"_Copy."_

The small group moved forward, fully cognizant of the fact that the dark corners and musty atmosphere could easily hide another trap. Another scratching sound was heard ahead of them and Ronon held his hand up. Drake could tell it was coming from around the corner and none of them could see what it was. The Satedan held his hand up for a moment and made a motion to signal a grenade. Drake understood, and pulled a flashbang from his vest. Dusty took a position on the wall ready to weave in and fire, while Ronon stood above her giving her a good support position.

Drake quietly inched forward, yanked the pin and held it. He waited for Ronon to open the door just enough and flung the grenade inside. Drake held the door closed – something pushed against it desperate to get out. The loud bang and edge of the flash that came from the edges of the door were his signal.

He couldn't react as Ronon yanked him off the door and threw him into the adjacent wall. Any resistance he could have offered was done; Atlantis was about to get a prisoner.

**Proculus, Gate Area**

"Let me guess, you never came back here?"

John shrugged as he and Sam walked down the path towards the Temple of Chaya, he was obviously a little bothered at coming here. "No. I came back a few times. Eventually, we broke it off because it wasn't exactly a regular relationship."

Sam sympathized with him. The planet _was_ beautiful, but the situation was unusual to say the least. "Shame, nice looking planet."

"Yeah, it is."

The tension in the air was thick despite the lush surroundings. Sam knew John was trying to keep things from turning into another screaming match, but the damage was done. As much as she wanted to be his friend, she had to be his commanding officer first. It wasn't long before someone came down the path towards them and John muttered softly. "Aw _crap."_

Sam smirked. Even the way he said _'Aw crap'_ reminded her of the few moments she'd seen his ex-wife. "Girl at every gate?" It was a little mean, but she still enjoyed teasing John.

John turned an accusing face to her. "Hey, low blow. Ten yard penalty."

Sam rolled her eyes at the way John mixed sports metaphors, The woman walking was – _Holy Hannah - _ Sam's instinct was correct, Chaya was just as gorgeous as Nancy, though more exotic looking. The white summery dress only accentuated her almost too perfect movements – _and curves_. "John Sheppard. I am glad to see you again." The woman turned to Sam and cocked her head to the side. "Samantha Carter?"

Both John and Sam turned to look at each other in surprise. Sam shrugged and looked to Chaya curiously. "Uh, Chaya right? Or do you prefer Athar? How do you-?"

Chaya frowned and shook her head. "It does not matter. I am not surprised you have come, follow me."

Sam was mighty confused, but seeing John follow wordlessly decided to come along as well. Ascended always were confusing as hell.

**Atlantis Control Room **

Chuck had spent hours teaching Larrin about Atlantis – during which time she'd asked about his home on Earth. Canada was a beautiful place alright, and with a little tet-a-tet about her own experiences aboard the Traveler Generational Ships, the friction from before was gone."_Ooooaaahhh_… that's _godly_."

Amelia had gone for a break and he'd gone for broke – he knew Sheppard hadn't done anything with her and he'd never get another chance. Larrin seemed to appreciate his forwardness and while declining his invitation for food due to exhaustion – was more than willing to give him a shoulder rub on his chair. It was a _major _breach of protocol, but he _was _ranking officer in the control room while Sheppard and Carter were off-world and Lorne and Teldy were dealing with the Refugees.

Larrin chuckled and dug her fingers into his neck muscles – he wasn't built like Sheppard, but he wasn't a stick either. "Well, I was hard on you earlier. Only fair you return the favor." Chuck shivered as goosebumps traveled down his spine. He couldn't tell if she'd found a nerve ending, or her comment had gotten to him. "Oh, like that?"

"Aw_ yeah_… Remind me to schedule more training. Maybe I can learn about your ships."

"There's an idea." Larrin replied, "There's still-"

An alarm suddenly started to ring, and despite the almost orgasmic feeling in his shoulders, Chuck quickly snapped back to reality and flung his fingers to the console – _Three years of RMCC dammit! Get laid later. _"Incoming wormhole!" He tapped his earpiece quickly and followed standard procedure. "Major Lorne to the control room, I repeat, Major Lorne to the control room ASAP."

Lorne acknowledged quickly – like it or not, Chuck could only legally operate the city, not an emergency situation. Larrin asked as she watched the wormhole – her voice was serious. "Any idea who it is?"

Chuck shook his head as he noted Amelia come rushing into the control room from the opposite side. There must have still been drool on his face as she gave him a somewhat surprised expression. She quickly shook it off though and took her seat.

The gate finally finished dialing, and after the kawhoosh, a radio signal came in. "_This is Ronon, my team's ready to come back. We have a prisoner."_

Obviously listening in, Lorne's disembodied voice came through. _"Lower the shield, Campbell. I'm with Jackson and Teyla and can't leave just yet. You up there, Larrin?"_

Both techs looked to Larrin who scowled realizing that she'd have to take over _again._ "Uh, yeah, yeah sure, no problem." She rolled her eyes and nodded to Chuck. "Well? Stop staring at my tits and drop the shield."

Amelia couldn't hold her snort, and Chuck shot her an exasperated look, he didn't have much a choice though and dropped the shield. "Right, Ronon? The shield's down. I'm calling guards to take your prisoner."

No acknowledgment, but a few seconds passed and Ronon's team came in carrying an injured man. "_Carter! Sheppard!_"

* * *

Larrin decided to take the bull by the horns so to speak. Chuck had been easy and she could see what Sheppard meant by his desire to stay in Atlantis – he'd come in useful. She walked over to the stairs and carefully went down – this place still gave her vertigo at times. Ronon looked at her almost contemptibly. "Sorry big guy, they're off-world. Lorne asked me to help you since he's busy."

Ronon growled softly, looked to his team and how they handed the dazed and confused prisoner off to the guards to be taken to the brig. He nodded to each and each nodded back. "We ran into Hybrids. He gave us the address where their prisoner is. We need Cadman's team."

Larrin shrugged – Carter and Sheppard made this look hard. "That's it? You got it."

**Atlantis Refugee Tower B-2**

Daniel was getting frustrated, but there was not much he could do. Another fight had broken out and he was left trying to mediate. Without Ronon around – it was more difficult to convince the refugees to peaceably stop. The IOA marines were more terrifying, which only exacerbated the situation. Now a large group was requesting to leave. "I'm sorry, but from our latest reports, the Asurans have wiped out many worlds leaving them inhospitable. They're going planet by planet and exterminating anything that the Wraith can use even as they hunt them down."

Devoc, a man elected by several groups of refugees to speak for them shook his head and scowled. "We have been here for months now. We grow more restless everyday and tensions are rising. If you will not allow us to live our lives as we choose, then they have no meaning."

Teyla tried to back up Daniel, but the attempt at quelling violence clearly wasn't working as well as they'd hoped. "It will only be for awhile longer Devoc. At least until we can find a safe place for all of you."

"I will _not _be herded like cattle with _his _people!" Another refugee barked. One of the Marines moved ahead to block him as the group around him began to cheer him on.

Daniel winced and held up his hands trying to get some sense of diplomacy going. The talks were failing and there was no way to stop it. "Calm down! This is only going to make things worse!"

Daniel didn't see who threw the first punch in the crowd, or even if it was a punch. But within moments of the intolerant slur, the crowd began to rock back and forth like a mosh pit, punching, kicking, and biting as they lost control. Daniel felt the vulnerability of their position, and he quickly turned to Teyla and helped her up as they began to retreat. Lorne was right on top of them and with a trio of marines took a defensive position. He screamed. "Calm down! We will use force!"

When random objects began to fly, Lorne cursed loudly. He waved forward and ordered the marines to fire. The stun shots began to fly into the crowd, Men, women, and children all fell from the non-lethal rounds creating an even bigger panic. Daniel and Teyla screamed for them to stop, but it was pointless.

In the cacophony, nobody noticed the US Air Force issued knife fly through the air towards the marine position. It arced too high though and Daniel felt a sharp jab in his shoulder. He had been wounded before, but the force at which the blade smacked into the back of his shoulder felt like he'd been shot. His cry of pain and sudden drop to the floor drew another shriek from those around him, and Teyla hesitated for a moment as she stumbled in the chaos. Daniel felt the burning sensation as blood began to drip down – it hadn't stuck to him – but he felt a nasty slice where the blade had hit.

Teyla quickly recovered, and screaming at one of the Marines to help her, picked him up and dragged him away from the massacre. Daniel cursed at how the sitation was devolving and prayed that a solution was found soon – but first, morphine.

**Atlantis, Control Room**

Amelia could see that Larrin had taken the position of operations control in stride. Not many of the decisions she'd had to make were difficult, but now came another difficult moment as the Stargate opened once more. "Incoming wormhole!"

"Probably Carter and Sheppard." Larrin said.

Amelia did her best not to blow a raspberry at Larrin, and checked for IDC or radio signals. "Getting a radio signal, it's…" Her eyes went wide at the carrier signal. "It's the SGC!"

The few techs in the room turned confused, the radio transmission now coming through clear. "_This is General Landry at the SGC calling Atlantis. Please respond immediately."_

The idea of Larrin being in charge of Atlantis was fine in an emergency – She knew more or less what to do and had control of her own people. Chuck could handle any airforce duties. Talking to General Landry was _clearly _not something Larrin was prepared for and she quickly muttered. "Uh, I think I'm gonna walk that way and let you guys deal with this." Amelia nodded, and Larrin quickly skedaddled out of the control room towards the jumper bay. Chuck got up out of his seat and tapped his headset seeing as he was now the senior officer. "This is Atlantis, we read you, General."

"_Is Colonel Carter there, son?"_

"No sir, she and Colonel Sheppard are currently offworld on a humanitarian mission."

A moment of hesitation, and Landry's voice came through a little quieter. "_Is that you Sergeant Campbell?"_

Amelia winced – being recognized by a General wasn't always best. Chuck replied as calmly as he could. "Uh, yes sir. I'm currently the senior officer in the control room."

"_Where's Major Lorne, Major Teldy? Why isn't there a command level officer there?"_

Amelia winced and thought of how she could help Chuck, nothing came to mind. Chuck just kept his composure. "Major Lorne is currently busy with refugee matters, sir. Most of the other command staff are occupied as well."

General Landry sighed on the other end, and then spoke softly and clearly. "_Drop the shield on your gate Sergeant. We've got a package going through."_

Chuck did as he was ordered. Amelia wondered what could be coming through. "Yes sir, shield is down. Send it on through."

Amelia watched on the cameras as Chuck moved from the control room console over to the gate itself downstairs.. five figures moved through after a moment, four heavily armed marines – and one bald headed politician.

**Abandoned Planet #2,**

**Hybrid Lab**

"_Distraction rigged; whenever you're ready Ronon."_

With Dusty right beside him, and Vega up on top of the roof of the building opposite, the six other men and women that made up Ronon and Cadman's team were ready to breach the enemy held building. There was a distinct lack of defenses or guards – Ronon took full advantage. He radioed Drake. "Do it."

In the distance, a series of explosions went off completely tearing out one of the sides of a long abandoned building. It buckled under it's own weight and began to topple over to the side. It served well as a distraction and Ronon knew Drake and Cadman had fun setting it up. He waited a few seconds, and several hybrids burst out from the building they were assaulting. Four Hybrids holding stunners moved around the building and into perfect line of sight for Vega. "Take 'em, Vega."

Ronon watched as the first hybrid went down, the three others realizing they were under fire and ducking for cover. Vega was a fast enough shot that she had another two down before the third got into cover. To his chagrin, Vega merely shot at his cover and punched through – her rifle was stronger than the P90s the Atlateans usually used and it was quickly over.

Ronon waited another second and then clicked his radio. "Move in! Secure the building and watch for traps!"

The teams moved in quickly and secured the main hall – unlike the last building this was more like a warehouse. There wasn't much resistance to their surprise. The prisoner they'd taken on the other planet assured them that this was where the prisoner Michael had was being kept. Cadman was right beside Ronon now leading the charge.

A few last stragglers remained, and the blasts of stun bolts quickly separated Cadman and Ronon from the rest of their team. Ronon wasn't worried though as he heard Mehra scream over the sound of her P90. _"Come on! Get some!" _Cadman looked equally calm as they flanked and let their teams deal with the stragglers. Soon they approached a door with what looked like a lock on it.

Ronon looked at the door in front of him, and delivered a hard kick to the lock. It hurt slightly when the door didn't budge, but he made no mention of it. "Rrrgg."

Cadman smacked him on the arm and motioned for him to move away. "Here, let me." She took something that looked like rope from her vest and stuck it to the door.

"The hell is that?"

With a smirk, Cadman began to stick the item around the lock and jamb. "Detcord, who needs a locksmith? Stand back, this is gonna be loud." Ronon did as he was told and held his hands over his ears. Cadman did the same and lit the fuse as she stood back. She screamed and covered her ears. "_Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!"_

The explosion was as loud as a shotgun, but the lock was blown clear off barely hanging onto the door. Ronon tried his kick again and this time it worked perfectly. He lunged into the room with his gun at the ready, Cadman right on his tail with her P90 leveled.

"_Bloody hell! Where'd you learn to knock?"_

* * *

Laura Cadman had spent the last few months hardening to tough situations. Losing Hester before her eyes, another teammate critically wounded and sent back to Earth in a Wheelchair. Yet another sent back on psych leave. Her mind had slowly been getting more and more desensitized to the violence Pegasus was enduring. But seeing the man in front of her, someone she was _sure_ was dead. _"Ca-Ca-Carson?"_

The man moved forward and took the catatonic Cadman into a bear hug. "Oh, you have no clue how happy I am ta see you." He turned to Ronon and nodded appreciatively. "I knew you'd find me, I just knew it."

Cadman turned a horrified expression to Ronon, he looked equally terrified.

**Proculus, Temple of Chaya**

"_Oh my god."_

Both John and Sam said it at the same time. Despite being a bit thinner than the last time they saw him, it was certainly the man they both knew. "Hey Sam, Sheppard." He was sitting on a boulder near a stream – almost as if he were just enjoying his day.

Chaya sighed as she turned away, refusing to look at the man dressed in white in front of them. "He arrived some time ago in great distress. My people took pity on him and nursed him back to health. Some remembered who he was from your previous visit."

The shock of seeing him alive after so many months of being convinced he was dead. Both John and Sam whispered together, their thoughts the same.

"_Rodney?"_

"Yeah, yeah it's me."

John didn't know what to say. It had been four months since the catastrophe at Asuras and the guilt that they'd left Rodney behind tore open the healing wound.

Rodney for that matter seemed oddly calm. His white clothing and clean cut appearance were so unlike him. As was the way he simply smiled instead of screaming for a ride home. "Well? No 'hullo Rodney!' No, 'Good to see you're alive, old chap!'"

Chaya sighed and moved off. John took a step forward towards Rodney and finally spoke. "H-h-how?"

Rodney smirked, and looked to John intently for a moment before looking to Sam. "Speechless? Yeah, I guess I would be too."

Sam kept her voice quiet. "Ronon saw you get shot. _He, you, we_ thought you were dead."

Rodney took a moment to look at the stream beside him, he seemed contemplative. "Yeah, I did get shot. Ronon's okay?"

"Yeah." John replied. "Ronon's fine. But, how did…?"

"Shh…" Rodney shushed them, and stood up. "All in due time." He looked to Sam and nodded. "Sam, I know you're all excited to see me as always, but can I have a few minutes with Sheppard?"

John felt his legs shaking – was this really happening? He looked to Sam with an expression of begging. Sam understood and decided to give the two men a moment alone, but before she did, she turned to Rodney and smiled. "I'm happy you're okay Rodney. We'll talk once you're done." Sam nodded once more to John and moved after Chaya.

John didn't care right now, he moved over and sat across from Rodney. "I thought you were dead."

Rodney's smile seemed laced with a sadness – but also simple sincerity. John had never seen him smile like this. "So did I. I-" A quick breath, and Rodney turned to him. "It's complicated."

"We can work it out back home. We'll take you back to Atlan-"

"I'm not going back." It was a statement, not a request.

John swallowed in surprise. "What? Why not?" He leaned forward and whispered. "We _need_ you Rodney. Things are worse than ever and we _need_ you."

Rodney shook his head again – John could clearly see sadness in his eyes. "No, you don't understand. I _can't_ go back."

"Why? Dammit Rodney, I'm not leaving you behind."

Rodney sighed and bowed his head. "I knew you wouldn't listen to me. You're my best friend and I understand completely." He held out his palm – staring carefully at it. "I can show you. I can show you why I can't go back."

John swallowed his guilt, and bowed his head in shame. "How?"

Rodney moved his hand and took John's tightly. John felt the oddest sensation…

**Abandoned Planet #2,**

**Hybrid Lab**

"So you've been with him for almost 2 years?"

This Carson facsimile nodded and sighed as he took a swig of the canteen Laura handed him. "Aye lass." He was obviously bothered by what had happened, but he seemed so happy to have been found. "He's been continuing his experiments into Wraith/Human hybrids, he wanted to use them to steal a cruiser so he could get away from the replicators."

Ronon simply remained silent as he stared off into the distance. The strike team had succeeded in taking out most if not all of the garrison here. Michael was nowhere to be seen but a prisoner had been taken and Drake was interrogating him while Ronon cleaned up the area. Laura was much more concerned with the dead man standing before him.

Carson was only too ecstatic to have survived. "It's been a few days since I saw him last, he took his latest batch of hybrids and went to try and steal a Wraith Cruiser from a shipyard he knew."

Ronon approached from outside – he'd evidently heard Carson. "How do you know?"

Laura was shocked at how angry Ronon sounded - Carson took it in stride from what she could see.. "Ever since the replicators started destroying everything, He's been paranoid about surviving. He used these abandoned worlds as bases to lessen the chance the Replicators would find him, but the last lab I went to was destroyed."

Laura still didn't really know what to say. Carson's story of how Michael had captured him after the incident with the Wraith Hive was a long healed wound. She didn't know how she could tell him what had happened afterwards.

Before they could really say anything though, Lieutenant Drake came into the room and saluted briskly. "Sirs."

Carson sighed softly and held Laura's hand tightly as Ronon followed Drake out the prison cell. Laura was still teary eyed and unsure of what to say. "Laura, I never doubted that you'd come."

All Laura wanted to do now as run away, instead of now preparing to tell Carson what had her and Ronon so spooked.

* * *

Ronon could feel his blood boiling at what Drake had found. The young man in front of him looked up and rocked back and forth as if in a daze. It took a few seconds to gather the will power, but Ronon moved forward and took the shattered boy into a hug. Something the young Athosian looked like he truly needed.

**Atlantis Infirmary**

Daniel hated being stuck in the infirmary, even more so when it was _he_ who was hurt instead of the typical vigil he'd have for someone. Teyla sat next to him and held his hand supportively. "You know, I'm not all that surprised that I got hit."

Teyla snorted and squeezed his hand. "Your calm is heartening. Dr. Keller says the blade missed any vital organs or arteries."

Daniel groaned as he felt the bandage tug at the hairs on his back. "Ow. That makes this _so _much better…"

Nurse Marie snickered at Daniel's deadpan sarcasm. The scrubs that barely covered his derriere only made the situation even more annoying. Teyla shook her head as she smirked, but her attention was on her wounded friend. "I am sure you will be out of here soon. Dr. Keller may be busy at the moment with the refugees, but…"

All of a sudden a ruckus was heard to the side, and the sounds of marines forcing someone in was obvious. Teyla looked over Daniel's shoulder as she got up. "What is that?"

Marie turned, and looked back to Teyla with a somewhat worried look. "Ronon's team brought back a prisoner. They _interrogated_ him a little strenuously." Marie turned and shook her head idly. "I'm not too sure what happened, but I hear he deserved it."

A soft groan, and Daniel turned his head to see. The spindly looking man looked pale but Daniel still felt a little sympathy for his pain.

Teyla on the other hand tightened her grip beyond friendly. "I _know_ that man…"

Daniel looked to Teyla, and could see that _someone_ was going to get a Banto Rod Colonoscopy.

**Proculus, Temple of Chaya**

"So there's no chance we can send people here?"

Chaya shook her head, she obviously felt shame and guilt over what Sam was asking. "Rodney has told me of your experiences with Ascended Beings. You know of the "Others"."

Sam nodded as she sighed. "Yes, I've, heard about them."

"Then you know why I cannot help you."

Sam gave her a pleading look. "I know you can't _protect_ them, but why can't they come to this planet and live far away from your people? The Wraith don't come here anyway because they're afraid of you, and from what I can tell the Asurans won't be coming here anymore."

Chaya took a deep breath as she smiled harshly. "You speak truthfully. But should the Wraith or Asurans arrive, I would only be able to protect _my _people. No matter what I may wish. They would have no contact with my people or the Astria Porta. What may work for a few generations would quickly devolve into cultural war – a war I would need to defend my people from."

"Defend your people?" Sam asked. "But they would just be living here. They could live on the other side of the continent for all they care."

"And as I say, it may work for generations, even longer perhaps." Chaya replied. "But my people are simple, Part of my penance is to keep them as such. I would be forced to protect them from _any _external threat whether it be physical or technological."

Sam narrowed her eyes in surprise. "You mean the Others would force you to destroy the refugees because they'd contaminate your culture?"

"And now you understand why this is a punishment." Chaya replied. "In ten thousand years, my people have not advanced a day for fear of their goddess. I am trapped in an endless path – one that leads nowhere."

Sam sighed heavily. "I can't understand why they would do that to you. I'm sorry. But I know what it was like when you first met John. It's so much worse now."

"The Asurans have had their attack codes activated." Chaya replied assuredly. "Rodney was the one to activate them."

"Yes, we've been trying to stop them ever since."

Chaya shook her head. "You will fail. I watched from the deck of one of our cruisers as our fleet turned their planet's crust into dust and vapor and _still_ we did not finish them. Our greatest achievement and our grandest failure."

Sam wondered what that must have been like. Maybe Chaya did understand their level of desperation. "We're desperate, Chaya. We're not going to stop trying but we can't hold them off forever. Maybe we can send them here temporarily, only until we can get them to a safe planet."

"You lack the resources to do such a thing." Chaya replied. "I have watched Atlantis since meeting John. You are strong people in a terrible situation. The advancement of technology has gone rampant – much faster than your ability to organize and govern. Those such as yourself on the front lines of both can understand, but like a scale, both experience and knowledge must be balanced."

"You mean our government doesn't understand what they're playing with." Sam simplified. "You _have _been watching us."

A sudden scream from over where Rodney and John were drew both of their attentions, and Sam quickly rushed over along the path. When she saw John on the floor holding his face and half screaming in terror, Rodney above him holding his shoulders. "Rodney! What happened?"

Rodney turned to look at Sam with a calm yet sad face. "It's only temporary, it's the only way Sam."

Chaya cursed in a foreign language, but remained where she was. John had lowered his voice from a scream to a sudden trembling whimper, his body shaking. Sam dropped quickly and put an arm on him trying to comfort him even as he now sobbed and swung at imaginary things in front of him. She looked back to Rodney next to her. _"What'd you do?"_

With an apologetic sigh, Rodney got up and took a step back. "It's the only way, he wouldn't leave without me."

John turned and bucked Sam off him. He screamed, _"No! No you're not real! No!"_

Sam stumbled back and watched as John continued to claw in front of him and scream as if in agony. She looked at Rodney in shock. "What are you talking about Rodney?" Raising a hand, Rodney seemed to focus. When his hand began to glow and become translucent, Sam finally understood. "_Oh my god. You… you're…"_

Rodney nodded softly, and the rest of his body began to glow with a white light. "Yeah, I uh, I was surprised too."

Chaya came up beside Sam and muttered. "I had nothing to do with his ascension. He arrived and once he was healed he ascended with no help whatsoever. He begged me not to tell you." She looked to Rodney with a blank stare. "And has refused to leave until you arrived. If not for my sympathy to his plight, I would have made him leave."

Watching John Sheppard scream as he spasmed on the floor half tearing his hair out, sobbing like a baby, all in front of two ascended beings – one of which being Rodney freaking McKay – Sam knew the universe had gone truly mad. "Rodney, what'd you do to John?"

Crouching, Rodney put a hand on John's back. John had begun to crawl away – his hands reaching for his sidearm. Rodney deftly removed it from his grip – along with his P90 and knife. "He wouldn't leave me behind Sam. John is, well he's the most loyal man I know. Loyal to a fault really. My best friend." Rodney bowed his head in sorrow – Sam too stunned to do anything as John fell to the ground again, scratching at the ground and still begging for it to stop. "_I-I-I_ can't go back, _I-I just_, I can't."

"_Why not_? Why did you do this to John?"

Sam moved closer to John and watched as he turned onto his back and gasped in horror at her. _"No! No stay back! Don't! Please god, don't!"_

Rodney seemed to phase, his vision off in the distance as if remembering. "Because John would never leave me behind, unless he knew how bad it hurt."

"What? What hurt? You're not making any sense." Sam was starting to lose her calm, Rodney wasn't helping. "Just tell me Rodney, _please."_

A piercing stare, and Rodney closed his eyes as he bowed his head. "I, I can't." He turned back to John on the floor – his hand waved over and John mercifully passed out. "But John can, he won't stay like this for long. In a few hours it'll pass and he can tell you everything." Holding his hand up, Rodney motioned for Sam to take his hand. "Goodbye Sam, I wish I could show you. I wish…" he chuckled a bit, and then smiled at Sam. "… it could have never happened, at least not in this reality, but I'm glad we got this chance to say goodbye."

It was happening too fast, Sam couldn't understand what was happening and she desperately reached out to Rodney. "_No!_ _No wait please! Why can't you stay?_"

Taking her hand, Rodney allowed the energy to flow around her fingers and caress her wrist. Sam recognized the tingle – though it was nothing but friendly. "I'm sorry Sam. The others won't allow it. There's more at stake than you realize and…" Rodney silenced quickly, almost involuntarily. He leaned forward and held his hand to her cheek. "I'm glad it was you who came, Take care of John for me would you? And tell Zelenka to compensate for the subspace turbulence when you activate the wormhole drive."

Feeling his fingers lose their solidity, Sam finally lost an edge of her control and reached out to him desperately, her voice cracking with strained effort. _"Rodney!"_

Slowly Rodney began to fade from sight, and his voice carried softly with the wind. "Thank you for everything Sam. I'm sorry I can't…" He smiled, and squeezed her hand one last time. "Take care of yourself, I mean it."

Watching Rodney McKay fade away into nothingness, while John Sheppard spasmed on the floor in what looked almost like a seizure, Sam felt completely alone. "_Rodney…"_

He was gone, and John's quiet whimpers were her only companion. Sam turned to Chaya and yelled. "What's wrong with him? What happened?"

Chaya knelt beside John – she reached down to touch his face. John didn't seem to react. "He has been given a terrible gift. The dying moments of Rodney McKay passes over his eyes –he feels everything that Rodney felt."

Sam moved over to John as well – even unconscious he reacted by pulling away, his breathing erratic. "Oh my god. He's reliving Rodney's torture?" Sam shook her head in disbelief. "Why would Rodney do that to him?"

Chaya stood and waved over a few of her followers. "You know the answer as well as I do Samantha Carter." She stared down at Sam who kept trying to figure out how to help John. "John Sheppard is loyal to a fault. His nobility reminded me of the way my people were before the Wraith. He gave me a comfort of home without ever knowing how or why. I loved him for that." Chaya quieted and whispered. "Rodney did not want to leave John with doubt. The trauma the Replicators caused him was unimaginable." The two women who arrived looked serious, but willing to help. "Adar, Maje, please help Samantha carry John to our guest room. He has been blessed with a vision but it will take several hours for it to pass. He may hurt himself in that time so please have someone watch him."

Sam still looked down at John who fidgeted and breathed sharply. He kept mumbling 'no' and spilling tears from his eyes. Sam could only imagine what he was going through. "I…" She turned up towards Chaya. "Can't you help him? Wipe the memories so he doesn't have to go through this? This is barbaric."

"It hurts me as much to say I cannot." Chaya admitted. Sam saw genuine pain in her eyes She really did feel deeply for John. She turned away from John as the two attendants brought a stretcher of some kind to move John carefully. "The memories will leave him, he will only remember vague wisps and feelings. It will be enough to prove to him that Rodney could not stay."

Sam wanted to curse Rodney now, but she couldn't. Chaya's description of John was exactly what she'd come to see John as. His loyalty was to his adopted family and home. it explained everything he'd done and everything he was planning. So Sam just stayed quiet while Adar and Maje lifted John onto the stretcher.

* * *

It was several hours now – nighttime had come and Chaya had left Sam alone inside the little guest hut with the bed John had been placed in. She claimed seeing John in such torment was unbearable – Sam had to agree, but she was also his CO and had to make sure he was okay. Adar and Maje came in periodically to offer water or food. Sam didn't feel hungry – though she did take some water.

John had been tossing and turning, mumbling and screaming on occasion. Sam had had to hold him down more than once to keep him from falling out of the bed. He kept screaming that it wasn't real, or that it was impossible. He wept for everyone on Atlantis multiple times, begging God that they were still alive, or lamenting their loss. Sam knew exactly what the Replicators had done to Rodney – made him watch as everything he cared about was destroyed over and over again. It had been _months _of this… Sam didn't know how Rodney had managed to resist.

That had all passed now, and John was quieting. She remembered how much it had hurt Orlin to hold onto the memories of ascension in his child form. The thought of John ending up with the same affliction was terrifying, but she didn't think it would happen. The hours had been time for her to think, to see what had happened.

When John woke, she kept quiet and waited for him to say something. His breathing had calmed, but his hands instantly went to his face. He groaned loudly and mumbled. "Sam?"

"I'm here." Sam replied. She had no clue what to do other than just sit by his side. What she'd just seen would haunt her for a long time. She reached over and touched his shoulder. He flinched back involuntarily, turning to look at her, and then bowed his head. Sam quietly spoke. "Chaya explained. I, is there anyway I can help?"

John shook his head and groaned again – he rubbed his eyes as if in pain. "No, not… I don't know." He took a few moments to breath and continued. "I don't remember details. All I get are feelings. He couldn't tell what was real or not. Nothing made sense. It was like he couldn't trust reality."

Sam understood, but kept quiet. Fifth had created a life for her that did feel real to begin with, but the borders of reality quickly faded as she realized certain aspects would never happen. Then he'd hurt her. "I know that feeling."

John turned to her with a disbelieving face. "It's, _god, _ I can't even describe it."

"You don't have to." Sam replied with confidence. "I know _exactly _what they did to him." John looked at her with a curious expression. He didn't say anything but seemed to finally understand her. "There's a very good reason I hate replicators."

John nodded idly. He still looked almost lost even though he was sitting. Sam could tell he was trying to sort out all the feelings and memories inside his head. "They, they tried to read his mind. But he resisted." John pulled himself out of his laying position and let his feet to the ground facing Sam. "Did you ever read about that machine we found on Atlantis, the one that forced Rodney's brain into evolving?"

"The ascending machine?" Sam replied. "Yes, Rodney barely survived it from the report. The IOA confiscated it and it's at Area 51 right now being studied."

"Yeah well." John's bitterness wasn't hidden, Sam could see he was completely open – a mixture of pain and lack of shame. John wanted help. "It left an impression in his mind. When the Asurans tried to read it, his brain reacted by reactivating. It wasn't as fast as the machine did it though, it took months for his brain to reach the point where he could ascend. All that time they tortured him." Neither of them said a word. Sam reached out again – this time John didn't flinch back as she rubbed his shoulder. John continued. "He watched us die Sam. He watch us die again and again. And again and again and again…"

Sam didn't know what to say, all she could do was sit here and listen to John describe it.

"He kept them from getting Atlantis' address. He bought us the time we needed to get the city to safety." John dropped his head onto his palms, elbows on his knees. "Good god they did everything to him, but he didn't give them an inch. They had to break every last bit of him to get what they wanted. In the end it didn't matter."

"He escaped." Sam surmised. John seemed calm, but at the same time in some kind of emotional flux. "Did he show you how?"

"Elizabeth." John murmured. Sam barely heard him.

"Excuse me?"

"Doctor Weir." John lifted his head. He was still tearing up. "She wasn't dead, not the way we thought she was. They had downloaded her into a replicator body – she was with Asurans who wanted to look into ascension."

"You mean that Asuran who helped you escape? Niam?" Sam had memorized everything about the Asurans – part of leading Atlantis in this war. To hear that Elizabeth Weir was still alive was shocking. "What –what was she doing?"

"She..." John winced again – his head seemingly ached terribly. "She went with them to teach them about ascension. They wanted to wait until the Asurans had been taken care of to move ahead with their plan. When we failed, they didn't really know what to do."

Sam stayed quiet and just sat beside John, a hand on his shoulder.

"Elizabeth convinced them they had to do something. All they had was one Aurora, so they waited until the Asurans were distracted to hit Asuras. She blew their whole planet to ash using all their ZPMs." John explained. "She went down herself and rescued him."

"She sent him here didn't she?" Sam surmised. "She might have been new to the Stargate Program, but she was always very intelligent. She probably assumed sending him here would mean he'd get better – maybe even thought we might come back. What about her?"

John winced again. "She stayed behind – along with Niam's followers. They realized that they were a part of the threat too and went with Asuras. They're gone, Sam. She died to save him."

Sam closed her eyes and tightened her grip on John. "She really loved you guys."

John nodded. "Yeah." Sam could feel the sorrow in his body. His breathing was still shaky but he appeared to have improved despite the revelation. He sighed and groaned softly again. "Oh, it's all so hazy. All I know is he couldn't take it. Every moment he kept wondering if it was real or not. He ascended to escape it. He can control it – he doesn't feel pain anymore."

Sam understood what Rodney must have been thinking. Daniel had taken the same option so many years ago. "I get it." Sam sighed deeply. "He said you wouldn't let him go if you didn't know."

"He was right." John replied flatly. "I'd have dragged him back. I-" John winced and held his head. "_Oh_."

"Shh…" Sam wrapped her arm around John's shoulders. "We'll stay until you're ready. Rodney said it'll go away. Just take all the time you need."

John sighed and breathed in deep. Sam could see he was under tremendous stress and controlling himself was taking a huge toll. "Thanks. I, It's so weird." He took Sam's hand in his own, squeezing it in thanks for the support.

Sam knew not to let Atlantis see John like this. She'd just blame his mood on their failure to convince Chaya – just another disappointment in this galaxy.

**Abandoned Planet #2**

**Hybrid Lab**

"Tell me where he has them."

Ronon watched from the sidelines. Drake was willing to do a lot of things most marines weren't, and in some respects Ronon understood. He himself would handle this interrogation but Ronon needed to make sure no one saw them.

Cadman had taken _Carson_ and was giving him a quick recap of everything he didn't know. Ronon didn't know _what_ to do with him and decided to err on the side of caution. Atlantis would find out soon enough and be the ones to make the final decision.

In the meantime, Drake would put his _talents_ to use. "You see this here? It's called Composition Four. All it takes is the right detonator and _boom_." The wounded hybrid hissed and spat in Drake's face. It wasn't going to say a word. Drake wiped off the spittle from his face and turned to Ronon. Ronon just nodded – war brought out the best and worst in people.

Ronon silently exited the small side room and shut the door. He made sure the other marines were nowhere nearby. With his strong hearing, he could listen to Drake's words. "_The thing is, this stuff only blows up when the right detonator is used. If it's not…" _The sound of a butane windproof lighter being lit gave an eerie feeling to the circumstance. Drake's voice changed as he put his gas mask on. _"It'll burn for quite awhile…"_

Sounds of a struggle, and Ronon knew what Drake was doing. The hybrid was already wounded from a beating he and Drake had given it, and now all that was left was to get the information they needed. Ronon would normally never condone the behavior taking place inside that room – except to a Wraith. He could already imagine Drake stuffing a cloth into the hybrids mouth and mentally preparing himself.

Torture was a tricky thing, and Ronon knew damn well Carter and Sheppard wouldn't understand. But this was different, and he knew that even though Teyla wouldn't approve, her people meant more to her than simple morals.

* * *

Drake stepped out of the room with a strange face. Ronon gave him a quick look and nod. Drake nodded back, a sign he was okay. "They're in a building two blocks south of here. Only the kids are left – rest were hybridized."

Ronon bit back his rage – these were people he knew. "Prisoner?" Ronon motioned with his head to the isolated room.

A silent stare, and Drake lowered his eyes to reply. "Let's just say it was his deathbed confession."

Ronon knew he'd only done what needed to be done – few people could work up such a nerve. "And Michael?"

"Shipyard. He hybridized as many people as he could and attacked. That was this morning. We _just _missed him."

Ronon clenched his fist hard enough to crack his knuckles, and then narrowed his eyes. "Did he say where?"

Drake pulled out his notepad, and the gate address. "Wraith planet. Said there's a big orbital shipyard. Michael lost his cruiser to the Replicators last month and he wanted to steal one from the Wraith."

"You good to go?"

The lieutenant looked to the side. Ronon could see in his eyes that he'd be alright, but it would take some time. "I will be once we fuck Michael up."

A wide grin came over Ronon's mouth. Better words Drake couldn't have said.

**Wraith Orbital Shipyard Planet**

The world where the Wraith were supposed to have their shipyard was like many they'd found over the years, lush, green, and verdant, one of the last planets one would think to find such monsters as the Wraith. The nighttime darkness did little to hide the beauty of this world.

The scene around the gate was chaos amidst the beauty. Ronon looked around and saw bodies. Both Wraith and Hybrid lay strewn about in a fashion of battle. More Wraith than hybrids were here – but it didn't matter. The stench of weapons fire and blood filled the area.

Ronon had let Cadman return to Atlantis with Carson – a smaller strike team would be easier to guide in a hunt than a full squad. Dusty and Vega quickly fanked out and took cover behind trees, while Drake watched Ronon's back as they moved ahead. It appeared that neither the Wraith nor the Hybrids had held anything back.

Up in the distant evening sky, Ronon made out the distinct U shape of an orbital dock. It was empty and the planet was silent – not even fauna could be heard around them.

Ronon made some hand signals, and his team spread out to cover more ground. The fighting looked like it was intense. Each Wraith or Hybrid had been stunned and then killed with a blade – it was a brutal type of fight and Ronon had never seen such a thing. He refused to check the Hybrids for people he recognized – he already knew the answer.

It became apparent that this was a graveyard world. Unlike so many others in the galaxy, it wasn't the Asurans that had turned it into one. Ronon gave a few Wraith some kicks just to make sure they were dead, and he noted with grim satisfaction that the Hybrids had done their job well.

The team quietly searched the area around the gate, it was thirty minutes of searching when Dusty spoke quietly on the radio. _"Contact. I'm about a click from the gate to the southeast. Looks like a hybrid. He's limping towards the gate. Looks like he took a beating."_

Ronon growled and clicked his radio – he wasn't far. "You recognized him?"

It took Dusty a few seconds to reply. "_Description matches Michael__." _Another pause. _"Should I take him out?"_

"No." Ronon replied quickly. "Fall back and secure the Stargate, Michael's mine."

There was a noticeable delay before he got affirmatives. _Everyone _wanted to kill him but Ronon had already planned what he was going to do. Tracking the former Wraith was simple as he didn't even try and cover his tracks. If anything, it looked like a desperate run through the forest to safety. Ronon wouldn't let that happen..

When Ronon caught up to him, he got a good view. Michael had been injured somehow, he was limping and breathing heavily. Michael seemed to notice someone following him and snap fired behind him. Ronon was nowhere near the target Michael shot at – something had panicked him severely. Ronon took full advantage as he stalked through the woods, overtaking Michael in seconds. They were only a few hundred feet away from the gate and Ronon had to strike now. He climbed up a single branch and waited for Michael to pass underneath.

Ronon swung down at the precise moment and drop kicked Michael in the chest. The impact was strong enough to fling Michael back to the ground stunned, perfect vantage point for Ronon who rolled to his feet. Ronon unsheathed the Banto Rod from his backholster and put a foot on Michael's chest to pin him down. The Banto Rod whistled as he brought it down on Michael's former feeding hand – a sickening crunch of bone complenented Michael's scream.

Ronon had no mercy and brought the Banto Rod down again. Then again, and again. He hit Michael just hard enough to bruise and fracture, but not enough to break his bones or kill him. It wasn't long before Michael stopped resisting.

Ronon stepped back – Michael was defeated before him and for just a moment, he looked pathetic. Ronon forgot about that as he wondered what had happened to Halling. "Get up."

Ronon didn't wait for Michael to follow through and instead picked him up from his good arm. Michael regained some sentience and spit out amidst bloody lips. "You fool. You've no idea what's happened."

Ronon yanked him forward and slammed him into the tree he'd swung down from. Ronon used the Banto Rod to restrain him against it by pressing it on Michael's neck. "You murdered the Athosians. You're a monster and I'm ending you."

Michael spit in Ronon's face – thankfully Ronon kept his mouth closed and merely wiped it off. "Murder begets murder? We're the same Satedan. My only consulation is you'll meet the same fate at the hands of the Wraith."

"I thought you hated the Wraith."

"And they hate me." Michael replied. He'd given up struggling and seemed almost ready to die. "And now they have the firepower to survive."

Ronon wanted to end it now – talking to a monster wasn't his forte. But Sheppard had taught him to listen on occasion, sometimes he heard something important. "Firepower? The hell are you talking about?"

Michael laughed – it sounded insane. "You'll die the same as I." He winced as Ronon squeezed the Banto Rod more and hissed. "The Wraith; they have made a Hive. Some kind of upgraded hive to combat the Replicators. I used a bomb strong enough to level your main tower in Atlantis and it did next to nothing."

Ronon had heard enough, the rest would come while he worked. He pulled a cord from his side pouch – a strong nylon twine from Atlantis. "A _super_hive?"

Michael scoffed and closed his eyes. "End me Ronon. Fulfill your desire for vengeance, the satisfaction shall be short lived."

Ronon considered himself honorable – dying wishes were to be done and reasonable requests to be fulfilled. Instead, Ronon looped the cord around Michael's good hand and flung the other side up into the tree's thick branches. "We'll see about that." Ronon let Michael go, but not before pulling the cord taut and yanking Michael's good hand upwards. He threw the slack into the tree twice more before tying it off.

Michael scoffed again as he spit at Ronon. "This is your vengeance; you leave me here to starve? And you call me a monster?"

"You won't live that long." Ronon replied. He unslung his sword and slashed quickly at Michael's gut. The sharp blade sliced through skin and muscles – exposing Michael's insides. The Hybrid hissed in pain and used his broken hand to keep his guts from spilling out. He looked up at Ronon in horror as he realized what the Satedan had done. Ronon just cleaned his blade and whispered. "If you can untie yourself, you can go."

Michael screamed at Ronon as he turned around and walked towards the gate.

**Atlantis Gate Room**

Ronon had just stepped through the gate – the rest of his team on his heel – when he noticed someone who was clearly out of place in Atlantis waiting to greet him alongside some marines and Lorne. "Mr. Dex, it's a pleasure to see you again."

_Woolsey_ – Ronon tensed and growled at him.

Woolsey adjusted his glasses and kept his tone calm. "Seeing as we were unable to have an interview on Earth, the IOA has authorized me to hold an interview here on Atlantis itself. Major Lorne tells me you've just rescued someone who appears to be Doctor Carson Beckett from the Wraith known as Michael. " He turned to Major Lorne who was resisting his scowl. "Major, could you have the conference room reserved for me? I have several people I would like to interview and until Coonels' Sheppard and Carter arrive, I would like to stay busy." He turned back to Ronon. "I will let you debrief with your team. Can we meet in say one hour?"

Ronon didn't reply – all he knew was that this man was part of the group of people willing to take this place away from Pegasus. He turned to his team and motioned with his head. In one hour he'd meet with him – but it wouldn't be friendly.

* * *

Major Lorne sighed softly as he watched Ronon, Vega, Mehra and Drake all walk away. He nodded to Woolsey's reply. "We can do that. You can take the conference room now if you'd like."

Woolsey nodded. 'Thank you, I'll be setting up our recording devices. It has been an interesting day so far, I look forward to the interviews." With that, Woolsey and his escort moved up towards the confrerence room.

Lorne had been on the sidelines for months now watching as both Colonels were slowly whittled to nothing by repeated stonewalling by the IOA. Chain of command was important, and knowledge was even more important to make large decisions like this, but people's lives were at stake. A lot of people.

With Woolsey around, Lorne felt it best if he were up in the control room until Carter and Sheppard got back. Larrin was more than capable of handing city operations, but he could see why Woolsey may not like it. Another of those little things Atlantis could get away with because of it's peculiar position.

**Early Morning, June 7****th****, 2008 **

**Atlantis Control Room**

It was hours now, and Lorne couldn't help but feel tired. As if summoned by his wish, the Stargate opened up and an incoming wormhole appeared. "Report? Who's dialing us?"

"_It's just us, Major." _Carter's voice spoke over the radio. To his side, Chuck shrugged._ "We're on our way back."_

Lorne sighed and looked to Chuck. "Drop the shield, keep quiet about Woolsey." He straightened his jacket and moved over to the stairs. Carter and Sheppard needed to hear it from him. Behind him, the gate Technicians silently worked – easy to do a task when harder decisions had to be made.

Lorne hurried down the stairs and watched Carter come through followed by Sheppard. They didn't look happy – and Sheppard looked like someone had kicked his dog – if he had one. Carter noticed how quickly he approached. "Major, what's the rush?"

"We've had quite a few developments in the last day ma'am. Was your mission to Proculus successful?"

Carter shook her head and turned back to Sheppard – he didn't say anything. "Unfortunately not. It's complicated but the matter is closed. The refugees need to stay on Atlantis."

"That may be a problem." Lorne explained 'The IOA decided we need someone to watch over us. They pulled the ZPM from Odyssey and made a quick dial-in, just long enough for Woolsey to show up."

"Woolsey?" Both Carter and Sheppard muttered. Carter winced and held her forehead. "My office. _Now_."

Lorne quieted and walked alongside his two fellow officers. It wasn't long before they entered the room and Sheppard finally spoke – his voice sounded harsh. "Explain Major. What the hell is Woolsey doing here?"

"According to him, he's here to interview the command members of Atlantis as well as VIPs like Ronon and Larrin." Lorne had already had his own interview, it boiled down to asking his professional opinion on how things had gone down in Atlantis and whether or not he thought Carter and Sheppard had done an effective job – not exactly a fair question, but Lorne had defended them.

Carter and Sheppard turned to each other for a moment before turning back to Lorne. Suddenly he felt like he was at a tribunal. Carter spoke. "Alright. We'll have to deal with it as it happens. You said there was more?"

"Yes ma'am." He shifted and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ronon and his team were able to rescue a prisoner. You were right, Michael had been using abandoned worlds to work on his hybrid experiments."

Sheppard sighed – seemingly reassured. "Good. I wouldn't feel right leaving someone in that bastards hands."

"It's stranger than that." Lorne replied. "We're still not sure exactly how, but the prisoner was Doctor Carson Beckett."

"_Come again?" _Sheppard replied. The look of confusion on his face told Lorne he hadn't heard properly ."I could swear you said _Carson Beckett._"

To Lorne's relief, Carter didn't seem angry. Instead she spoke calmly. "Wasn't Doctor Beckett killed last year in an explosion?"

"Yes Ma'am." Lorne turned to Sheppard and sighed. "We all know it's not him, sir." Lorne noted that Sheppard didn't exactly seem himself – he seemed almost angry at everything around him rather than the typically laid back man Lorne knew. "My bet's he's a clone. We know the Wraith use cloning technology for their drones. Stands to reason they could clone a human." Lorne sighed and shook his head. "That and this Carson says he's been a prisoner for almost two years. He was taken after the second time we tried to turn Wraith into humans."

Carter looked confused, but also too tired to really care. What happened on Proculus? They were gone a long time.. "Alright. That's not _exactly_ bad news."

"That's not the half of it." Lorne knew this was going to hit home. "The goddamn bastard was the one who kidnapped the Athosians. He used them for his experiments with making hybrids."

Sheppard bowed his head and cursed a blue steak – Lorne saw his face go red with rage. "_What_? What happened to them?"

"Everyone but the children." Lorne replied – he kept his voice calm as to not further agitate the man. "He hybridized them all and used them to try and attack a Wraith planet. Ronon's team tracked them down but it was too late. Everyone but the children are dead."

Both commanding officers looked enraged but knew enough to keep calm. Carter in particular looked incensed. "What about Michael? What happened? Details Major."

"Ronon tracked down three worlds, ma'am." Lorne could see that Carter wanted to know exactly what happened. "The first led them to the second lab where the actual hybridization happened. They interrogated a hybrid who was left behind – Michael was trying to steal a cruiser from the Wraith so he could get away from the Replicators.

"He took all the Hybrids he could and launched an attack. The Wraith fought back. Supposedly they've built some kind of Superhive to combat the Replicators. Ronon got there too late – it was a massacre."

"What about _Michael?"_ Sheppard growled.

Carter looked like she wanted to cut in, but was willing to wait. He could understand why Carter was worried about the Superhive while Sheppard wanted to know Michael's fate.

"Ronon says he found him." Lorne sighed. "He won't go into details, but he says Michael got what he deserved." He shivered thinking of the way Ronon and his team seemed so affected by what they'd seen. "His own tean doesn't know. The way he said it makes me think Michael didn't have a quick or painless end."

Both Colonels kept quiet – Lorne figured it was a moment of silence to grieve the fallen Athosians. He was proven right when Sheppard asked. "Has anyone told Teyla?"

Lorne shook his head. The events of the past day had been almost ridiculous ."No, but she knows something's wrong. The original prisoner that Ronon brought back was the same man that Dr. Keller and Teyla found when they went to New Athos – She put two and two together and kind of lost it in the infirmary."

"What happened?" Sheppard asked again – Lorne felt like a storyteller.

"She assaulted him – he'd already taken a beating from Ronon and his team, I went down to try and calm her down."

"What happened when you got down there?" Carter asked – her face was full of worry.

Lorne couldn't dare to look his COs in the face. "The prisoner didn't last long – but he lasted long enough to tell Teyla what happened to the Athosians. She didn't take it well.."

"_What…" _Sheppard growled through clenched teeth._ "…happened?"_

"Doctor Keller had to sedate her. As far as I know she's still in the infirmary. I don't know more than that for now."

Carter and Sheppard gave each other a look before Carter nodded. "Go. I'll deal with Woolsey. Find Ronon and get me everything you can on that Superhive when you're done."

Shppard nodded and wormed past Lorne. He just was thankful the grilling was over.

**Atlantis, Infirmary**

"I ran some testing, without getting into the details, he's a clone." John listened carefully to Keller's explanation, but he couldn't help but notice how much older she looked. In the months taking care of Atlantis, she'd gotten a few lines in her face. It hadn't occurred to him before that this job must have been killing her.

He noticed one of the Travelers stood beside her acting as an aide. She seemed relatively short and cute. She had olive skin and what he could only describe as Philippinan facial features. Despite her smile, she seemed serious as she passed sheets to Keller to examine and make a decision even as she spoke with John.

John shook his head and rubbed his face. "How is that possible? I mean, other than guessing how can you tell?"

Keller sighed and groaned softly. To John's surprise, the Traveler woman stepped forward and took Keller's arm. " If I may?" Keller nodded and focused on the sheets in front of her. Gods knew what was on them. The Traveler explained. "I believe Jennifer calls them 'Telomeres'. It is an essential part of the…" she turned to Jennifer and narrowed her eyes. "…DNA?"

Keller nodded idly. "Yeah…"

John could see Keller was busy, so he looked at the Traveler. "Okay, just before anything, who are you?"

The woman smiled and extended her hand. John hadn't known the Travelers to use handshakes. "I'm Reyna, Reyna Arterius. I'm the medical advisor for the Traveler council." She turned back to the infirmary. "Atlantis' medical labs are more than we're used to technology wise, but once we were able to get used to your technical terms, we've been working well."

"I see." John hadn't considered it. He was so busy trying to plan a coup that he'd missed the few acts of humanity left in the galaxy. "That's actually really encouraging. I hadn't realized you folks were getting comfortable here."

Reyna shrugged. "I still get vertigo every so often, but Atlantis is the city of the ancestors. We've got stories of their fight against the Wraith and how they protected us. They were the ones to give us the technology for these ships. We've tried to keep it all and advance, but resources are always slim."

"I get that." John figured if things went the way he thought, he'd have a long time to talk to the Travelers. "Back to the point, how can you tell Carson's a clone?"

"Yes, Telomeres," Reyna nodded and brought up a computer pad so John could see. "it's a part of the DNA sequence that's always shrinking. When a creature is cloned, the clone has shorter telomeres from having been born from an aged source."

"Alright. I guess that makes sense. I don't suppose you know his story?"

Reyna shrugged. "Sorry. But Doctor Keller might." She turned to Keller. "Doctor."

Keller turned back from her own sheet where she'd made scratches and notes. She handed it back to Reyna. "Yes, thank you. I've written down my recommendations. You should be able to distribute it with Marie's help."

"Thank you." Reyna turned back to John and nodde.d "Nice to meet you Colonel Sheppard."

"Likewise." Sheppard replied – he'd have thought with so little to do on space ships, Traveler women might look a bit more plain, but clearly they took care of themselves both physically and superficially.

Keller ran her hand through her hair and breathed in and out before replying to John's question. "As far as we can tell, Michael must have cloned him sometime after the second time Dr Beckett tried the retrovirus on the Wraith Hive. He's had a rough time of it."

"Well..." John muttered. "As long as he's safe now We can help him later. What about Teyla? Major Lorne told us she had to be sedated." Keller winced at Teyla's name. John immediately feared the worst. "Oh my god, did she _lose the baby?"_

"No no no…" Keller explained quickly. "The baby's fine. Teyla's… unstable. I had to give her a massive sedative, but in order to make sure the baby didn't suffer any ill effects, I had to order a caesarian."

John raised his eyebrows in shock. "What?" He couldn't believe it. "You mean… the baby's already born?"

"Three weeks early, all six and a half pounds of him." Keller mused.

John couldn't believe it. Today had been the busiest day of his life and he'd missed Teyla's baby. The chaos of this galaxy was ripping his life apart and he had to take back control. "Will Teyla be okay? Will the baby? Can I see them?"

"Yes, yes, and not yet. I'd really rather leave her in isolation for now." Keller sighed and tugged on her nose – John recognized the signs of exhaustion. "She killed a man in my infirmary, Colonel. I know what he did and that he deserved it, but I had to watch her beat him to death with an oxygen tank." Keller sighed and shook her head. "Right now, I'm trying to save everyone I can and it's just not possible. So you'll excuse me if I'm not as understanding and good bedside manner as I should be."

John understood completely. He shook his head and quietly spoke. "It's okay. As long as they're fine."

"Well as long as our medical supplies last, we should be fine from that angle." Keller sighed again. "You need to find a way to get us out of here Colonel." She seemed almost begging, something John wasn't expecting. "We can't live like this forever. I know Woolsey showed up, you have to convince him to send these people to the Milky Way, It's the only option we've got. I want to give these people a home. _I _want to go home."

John stayed quiet and contemplated what she said. He could warn her, he could tell her that in all likelihood the next week was going to be one of the bloodiest Atalntis had seen since the Genii and Wraith sieges. But her last words told him what he needed to know. Earth was Jennifer Keller's home. "I'll do my best. Just hold on, You'll see home again, and we'll find a way to save these people."

John walked away towards the hallway – desperately trying to convince himself he hadn't given empty words.

**Atlantis, Conference Room**

"I'll be interviewing and making an assessment of the Expedition's viability over the next few days. The IOA has authorized me to make changes as I see fit at the end of my observation time."

Sam felt a tingle go down her right arm. The conference room was less than amicable what with a guard behind Woolsey, two behind her, and one outside. What was the point of so many guards?

It had been a long time since she'd struck out in anger and Woolsey was seriously trying her patience. "Changes? What kind of changes?"

Woolsey raised an eyebrow. "Everything from security protocols, to command level decisions."

"_Command_ level decisions? You mean whether or not we should be assigned here." Sam didn't have time for the typical political doublespeak. She wanted answers.

Woolsey hesitated a moment and then nodded. "In a manner of speaking. Major Lorne has briefed me on most of the recent events regarding the Wraith bred clone of Carson Beckett, the plan to steal ZPMs from the Asurans, as well as the fate of the Athosians. Not to mention that the refugees are still in Atlantis against the IOA's recommendations."

Sam leaned forward and stared. "I will _not _send them to the mainland. You'll have my resignation if you make it an order."

Woolsey held a hand up. "Calm down, I do not wish to send them either, but I am only the IOA's representative. They must take a look at the larger perspective, but I am not without humanity."

Sam relaxed a little – but only a little. "Good, and Major Lorne has briefed me as well. Colonel Sheppard is currently dealing with the clone of Carson Beckett as well as organizing the raid on the Asurans."

"Very good." Woolsey said it almost pedantically, as if it were just a little useless tidbit of information. "I'd like to speak to Larrin the Traveler leader regarding the upcoming mission and the involvement of the Travelers in base security."

Sam knew that was coming – but she'd prepared for it. "I'll arrange that for tomorrow. You'll find that their involvement has been most successful in keeping Atlantis safe, while their access to our databases and security protocols is limited. They are manpower, nothing more at this time." She narrowed her eyes. "In the meantime I'd like to know what your initial thoughts are."

"Initial thoughts on what specifically?"

"The expedition in general. Especially given what's happened I'm curious as to what the IOA is considering."

"Hmm." Woolsey seemed to appraise her question, then nodded. "Very well, other than the refugees still being in the city, for the most part I can see that you've all been doing the best job you can under the circumstances."

Sam found it odd that despite his reassurance, she still felt he was having one over on her. "That's fair I suppose. But I'm telling you right now that unless things become much more drastic, I'm not going to be sending the refugees to the mainland anytime soon."

"Sadly you may not have a choice." Sam frowned again, and again Woolsey backpedaled. "What I mean is, the IOA has already suggested it. Despite my and your feelings on the matter, they may make it an order."

Sam found it hard to believe that the IOA could be so callous. The Air Force would never have agreed to such an order unless under extreme circumstances. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

**June 8****th****, 2008**

**Atlantis Hallways **

Carson the clone, Teyla the mother, Woolsey the bureaucrat, Rodney the ascended. Things had come to a head and John was ready to snap. The nightmares in what little sleep he could get weren't helping either.

Atlantis just wasn't the same anymore; walking down these corridors, John saw heavily armed marines and Traveler security men patrolling. He didn't see the family he'd come to expect. The Atlantis personnel who would smile and wave to him, The times he'd walk with Ronon and notice all the looks he'd get from the female scientists – not that he was jealous.

His team was as good as disbanded, Ronon had become cold steel, stronger than a blade as he cut a swath through any opposition. They only talked now of survival, not the latest Will Farrell movies. Teyla was… he didn't even know _what_ Teyla meant to him now, She had had a child now, and it was as if everyone on the base was ready to give her support. But something had broken in her. The thought that she could coldly kill a man in an infirmary full of people with the nearest object… John worried about her like a sister in trouble.

Rodney's revelation was excruciating beyond measure. John didn't remember any of it but he felt the anguish, the pain the scientist had endured for them. He'd often teased Rodney's weaknesses, but encouraged his hidden strengths. John had no idea that Rodney could endure like that. His loss had begun the shattering of John's life and there wasn't much to keep him going. Atlantis, his home, was falling down all around him.

And then there was Sam and this coup he was planning. It tormented him everytime he thought of it. Sam was innocent of all of Pegasus' sins. John was responsible for so much – Sam was by no means pure, but her honesty and integrity were being fractured by the results of his actions. John almost felt worse for what this was doing to her than everything else. She'd gotten to know him so well, and understood things about him that no one else did. Hurting her was the last thing he'd want to do, but he'd have no choice if the path before him didn't change.

John still didn't know what was going to happen in the next few hours, but at least he could decide the next few minutes. He spotted his prey walking towards the transporter at the edge of the hallway; no one else was around "Hey."

Larrin turned and frowned at him. " do you want_?_ That bald freak from your precious IOA is waiting for me."

John caught up and sidled next to her, he motioned with his hand for her to continue. "Walk and talk, is everything in place?"

"Oh yeah, the new shield emitters are great." Larrin replied sarcastically as they walked along. The Transporter ride took them to the base of the main tower – a few people were around but most were busy and didn't pay any attention as they walked. "Nice to know it'll take twice as many shots to kill us."

They reached a set of stairs, John saw the moment for privacy and took Larrin's arm in his hand to slow her down. "Hey, wait a-"

John wasn't expecting the stinging sensation on his face. Larrin had turned around at his touch and slapped him _hard. _"Don't you _dare." _Larrin hissed. "Don't you dare touch me unless you mean it."

John flexed his jaw and rubbed his face. Larrin always did like hitting him. "The hell does that mean?" John was ready this time as Larrin went for another slap, he caught it and held her wrists – not enough to bruise or hurt, but enough to control her movements.

Larrin struggled, but he could tell she was only toying. It was _always _difficult with her. "You want my help. I've had to struggle to get my people to listen. They listen to me because I'm the most experienced in combat, and the Aurora is mine. I need to know right now where you stand. I need to know I'm making the right decision." Larrin's breathing had increased and her eyes were wide.

It took a second for John to interpret it. "You know where I stand. I'll fight a battalion to stay here."

"And us?"

John didn't reply instantly. He'd been ignoring this for so long and now Larrin had asked him directly. All he wanted was to tear into her right now – relieve some of his stress. _Atlantis is more important… Atlantis is more important… _"What _about_ us? I can't even touch you without getting slapped."

"Doesn't have to go that way." Larrin whispered. John was _so _glad that this stairwell wasn't being used. He'd heard enough gossip about his non-existent love life.

John focused – he _had _to focus. "Is this _really_ the time to be having this discussion?"

Larrin's smirk faded, and she hardened her expression. "Wraith, Asurans. Your own people won't let us through to your galaxy. Time's running out."

John needed clarity – all Larrin ever gave him was confusion. Decisions needed to be made, and now he was making a painful one. He pulled Larrin in close and kissed her on the lips. He wasn't too surprised she reciprocated. He let go after a few seconds and whispered. "If we survive, I'm not leaving Atlantis. Not even for you." Larrin didn't say anything, but John could heard her breathing – and feel her shivering. "Your offer is tempting, _very tempting._ But after everything I've gone through for this place, I can't leave it. I _have _to save it."

Larrin pulled away calmly, John could see she was over assaulting him. To his surprise she spoke quietly. "You're really something special you know that Sheppard?" Larrin composed herself and fixed her shirt that had loosened up in their embrace. "Alright, my people are ready. I've got my armed security waiting for an attack code. They've got orders for stunning only so you don't have to worry about your precious marines."

"There's no need to kill anyone." John reminded her. "You outnumber them ten to one. The only danger is their automatic weapons, but that's why we have the element of surprise. Will your ships be ready with the new shield emitters?"

"They're already in place. just waiting for the order to go; Five ships ready to go including our Aurora."

"Perfect." John sighed and rubbed his face – deep inside his mind he was somewhere else. But that could wait. "Any luck and we'll be able to _discuss_ this once we're safe."

"Shame." Larrin's smirk came back. "Don't know what you're missing."

John had had _enough. _He lurched forward and took Larrin again in his arms. He pinned her to the wall and lifted her just off the floor. Larrin moaned as his hands found their way along her sides and back. Somehow he was able to summon the willpower to stop after a minute and take a step back. Larrin's eyes were wide in shock and breathing in a pant. John snorted. "Neither do you."

John turned and walked away – _finally _he had the last word with the stunned into silence Larrin.

**Atlantis, Infirmary**

Lorne knew he was getting the short end of the stick dealing with the Infirmary's issues, but he appreciated that Carter and Sheppard were taking care of the larger issues at stake. Namely dealing with that idiotic windbag Woolsey. Perhaps in a different reality as he knew damn well existed they could be comrades or even friends. But to hear the man actually say the things Lorne had heard him say. Lorne wondered how politicians had learned to be so heartless.

Soldiers often were reviled as killers, but he couldn't think of people more dedicated to the appreciation of life. Like Carson Beckett's suddenly declining health. "So what's wrong with him Doctor?"

Jennifer had bags under her eyes that looked like she'd lost a fight with a punching bag. Lorne had felt the same during those long deployments in Bosnia many years ago. The infirmary was constantly busy, but the Traveler Doctors had gotten used to the position and Jennifer was now just administrating it all – a lot to handle for a twenty something year old. "I don't know, and before you ask, yes, it's probably because he's a clone."

Lorne didn't really know what to do with Jennifer now. He'd kept a friendship up since she arrived, but ever since Asuras she'd pulled away and cocooned herself in work. Lorne owed Ronon more than one for having on repeated occasions carried Jennifer to her quarters for some much needed sleep. "Anything we can do for him? I mean, Michael must have been keeping him alive somehow."

"The answer's somewhere in that database Zelenka and Esposito brought back from Michael's compound." Jennifer replied. "I just don't have the manpower or time to look through it properly, let alone figure out how to use it. I'm putting Carson in stasis whether he likes it or not."

Lorne remembered the times Carson had been forced to do anything – it never went over well. "If you think that's for the best, I'll support you and I'm sure Carter and Sheppard will as well." He sighed softly and rubbed the bridge of his nose as well in sympathy. "What about Teyla? Has she improved at all?"

"She's woken up." Jennifer seemed to phase out for a moment. "You didn't see her, Major. I've never seen someone so angry." Jennifer winced again. "If you want, you can see her. She's still under sedation but she's been drifting in and out for a few hours now."

Lorne didn't say another word as he moved away. Jennifer was busy enough and dealing with his questions would only be frustrating. He moved towards the isolation room where he spotted Reyna taking notes from the reading on the consule. Lorne liked Reyna – she seemed sunny despite the chaos around them. Case in point as she smiled at his arrival. "Major, how are you?"

Lorne blew a sigh and shook his head. "Is there an answer I can give that isn't going to depress us both?"

"I think you just gave it." Reyna chuckled. Lorne liked how she fit in so well. It gave him hope that the Travelers might be able to come back to the Milky Way with them. He wanted everyone to get away safely.

Lorne walked up to the glass – Teyla seemed so calm with an oxygen mask and the lack of a big belly. The little tyke was still in one of those weird incubator things – Lorne didn't know the proper term for it. "Is Teyla okay?"

"Yeah, she's a tough one. You can wake her if you want but don't expect too much out of her. She's still really out of it and well, she doesn't know about the baby yet."

"Wait." Lorne turned to Reyna with a worried expression. "What? What happened to the baby?"

"Calm down, I meant she doesn't know she gave birth. The baby's fine."

Evan winced and cursed under his breath – this should have been Sheppard or Ronon's job, but at least he wasn't uncomfortable doing it. "Can you open the door? I need to speak with her."

"For all it's worth, she's been mumbling a bit." Reyna swiped her access card and the door opened. Lorne could smell the odd scent of an operating room – oddly copperish.

Evan found himself questioning everything that had happened as he walked up to Teyla. It all stemmed from Asuras and the defeat there. Losing McKay and Apollo were nearly fatal to the expedition – only recently had any sense of normalcy begun to come back.

Then Midway was gone, and the IOA made their decision. Lorne prayed to any gods that would listen that the IOA would change their minds, that somehow Carter's eloquence and Sheppard's white hot fury could convince them otherwise. But with Woolsey here to enforce those orders, Lorne didn't know what to expect. Atlantis had changed; Pegasus had changed.

Teyla seemed to notice as he approached, he waved and stood beside her. "Hey, Teyla."

He shook her shoulder softly, and Teyla's eyes fluttered at his attention. She mumbled somebody's name, but Lorne couldn't decipher it. Teyla seemed to wake up further – her eyes open and alert. "_Ev...Evan..."_

Lorne put a hand on her shoulder and held her down gently – he could see the leather straps on the bed – mercifully they'd been taken off. "Shh, stay calm. You're okay."

Her eyes moistened, Teyla could hardly raise her voice loud enough for Lorne to hear. _"I… I… My child?"_

"He's fine." Lorne replied confidently. "They had to take the baby out, but he'll be fine. He's a cute little guy and he needs his mommy."

Teyla closed her eyes and smiled – she seemed to laugh, but at the same time sob. "_The man… he said my people were…"_

Sighing, Evan took Teyla's hand and squeezed it softly. _Goddamnit. _"I… I'm sorry Teyla. Ronon confirmed it."

Teyla's sudden sharp breath brought in Reyna who quietly monitored her readings. She nodded to Lorne and silently changed the dosages of Teyla's IVs. Teyla's voice was strained – her grip was unbelievably strong. "_Did any…?"_

Lorne blew a sigh. _Only damned good news. _"Yeah, yeah, the kids. Ronon got them out and they're here in Atlantis now. They're going to need someone to give them guidance so you just get better okay?"

Teyla still had her eyes closed. Her grip was like a vice. She hissed. "The man, where is he?"

Lorne noticed Reyna looked up at Teyla. She simply shrugged and nodded to Lorne. Lorne gulped and quietly spoke. "You uh… he's in the morgue Teyla. You didn't exactly go easy on him."

Teyla grit her teeth and laid her head back. Lorne could swear he heard faint whispers of what sounded like prayer. "Evan, where are… where is everyone?"

"Uhh yeah…" Lorne realized that despite their friendship, her teammates had spent considerably more time with her. Only made sense. "A lot's happened and they're dealing with it right now. I won't bore you with the details but… but I know for a fact that Sheppard and Ronon have already come down here to see you."

"And Daniel, is he alright?"

Lorne could see it from a mile away, but he kept calm. "Yeah, yeah Jackson's alright. Just a little nick, he should be released already."

Teyla finally opened her eyes again and calmed down. Reyna took a few more readings, and then quietly excused herself. Lorne looked down at Teyla as she moved his hand. "I am glad you came Evan, you are a good friend." Lorne nodded – he was glad to be here for her. "Evan?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me, do you love Atlantis?"

Lorne raised his eyebrows, and wondered what she meant by such a strange question.

* * *

"I can still work, you need all the help you can get and I can't in good conscience-"

"_Carson_." Jennifer hissed. The little medical lab was no place for this conversation, and Jennifer wanted to keep it as short and simple as possible. "I know you want to help, I know you must feel terrible over everything that's happened. But there's just too much happening right now for me to dedicate enough time to figure out what's wrong with you. Even with Michael's database, you just don't have enough time to figure it out by yourself, this is the only way."

"But I'm no good to anyone just standing there frozen." Carson insisted.

"You'll be even less use dead." Jennifer replied coldly. "My best estimate gives you three days, but you'll probably pass out in a day and a half."

There was no arguing with that, and Carson sighed. "Just give me another day or two." Evidently the Doctor thought he could argue. "I can figure this out, _I know I can!_"

Jennifer wanted to scream – she wanted to tell Carson to stop and look at the big picture like she had. But she had too much respect for him – even as a clone. "I don't doubt it, but you don't have the time and we don't have the resources to do it right now. If we put you in stasis _right now_, we can prevent anymore cellular degradation and improve your chances."

"My chances?" Carson indignantly replied. Jennifer was getting less and less patient. "This is my _life_ we're talking about. I didn't spend almost two years as Michael's prisoner to end up in another prison."

Jennifer groaned and rubbed her forehead. "It's not a prison Carson, it's stasis and at this point it's the only way I can keep you alive."

"But with Michael's Database…"

"_Carson!"_ The frustration finally hit her and Jennifer raised her voice beyond her typical irritation. Carson silenced as she closed her eyes and counted to five. Jennifer drew in a calming breath before muttering. "I don't want to see you get hurt. Not…. not again…"

Carson kept silent for a few moments – Jennifer hoped he was digesting what she'd said. "Alright." _Thank god._ "I… I guess you're right." Jennifer rubbed her forehead – she was ashamed she'd raised her voice but there just wasn't any other way now. Carson seemed to notice and took her chin in his hand lifting her head. "Jennifer, it's okay. You were the most qualified to take over and I'm proud of what you've done here."

Jennifer nodded as she pursed her lips – she could feel the moisture in her eyes building. "I-I appreciate that…" Suddenly sullen, Jennifer's gaze darted down and to the side. "I'm not too sure how accurate it is though."

Carson held his hand out and took her shoulder. "Jennifer, you've kept this place together with two thousand refugees and another four thousand people with barely enough supplies to last a few months. Proud is the _least_ I can say."

Jennifer felt an odd dichotomy. Her old mentor was proud, but now she had to stuff him into a freezer.

**Atlantis, Control Room**

"Good hunting, Caldwell. Wish I could come with but Woolsey's got my interview later today."

Caldwell snorted on the viewscreen. "Makes me glad I'm a ship driver. Will do Sheppard. Tell Carter to get the city ready, we're either gonna come back with full power or not at all."

The control room was abuzz with activity as the Traveler ships took off, and Daedalus led them in their mission to raid an Asuran Wolfpack. Ronon and most of the original marines from Atlantis were with them – along with Travelers personally briefed by Larrin on their secret mission. Things were coming to a head now.

John grimaced at Caldwell's words. "Hopefully the former, give them hell Colonel."

The screen shut off and John had a moment to think. He was expecting the Travelers to bug out soon – leaving Daedalus and the Aurora to take the heat from hitting the Asurans. It'd probably be very late that night that they'd come back. It gave him time to prepare here. If this coup was ever going to happen, it was going to happen soon.

John moved over to where Chuck sat and asked him to bring up their galactic map of Wraith and Asuran targets. The Wraith had been whittled down to eleven detectable hives, with the mystical 'Superhive" that Ronon said Michael spoke of invisible. Even with upgrades, John couldn't see the Wraith taking those wolfpacks even with a "Superhive" – they just didn't have the firepower or endurance.

John was just waiting now for his interview. They'd have a short break as it was near lunchtime, but he needed to confer with Sam about what they would do with a fully operational city. The upcoming tension and anxiety gave him butterflies – he wished he _was _going into combat as he could deal with that. With any luck, once they had the ZPMs they'd have more time, the one resource more precious than ZPMs.

He idly looked across the control room and stairs down to the gate room to the conference room. He wondered what was going on inside where Sam, Woolsey, and Larrin were having a rather long discussion.

"Almost an hour now, sir." Chuck said suddenly.

John turned to Chuck. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Thanks." John sat on the console and stared. "Hour huh? What I'd give to be a fly on that wall."

Chuck scoffed and continued his work on the console – John could recognize the request for power transfers, engineering teams and supply requisitions. "Wish I could help you, but that room is soundproofed and has a dedicated communications line. No way I can listen in from here."

John hid his smirk, Chuck was always good to bring someone's spirits up. It was no wonder he'd been selected from the great Canadia to represent them. He still kept his voice calm and commanding "That'd be an illegal recording of a classified discussion and against enough regulations I could have you imprisoned. I should report you for even suggesting it." Chuck said nothing, but John could tell he wasn't afraid at all. He turned to Chuck with a quiet voice. "Sure there's no way?"

"Already tried. No dice."

**Daedalus, Cargo Bay 3**

**En Route to Asuran Wolfpack**

Ronon flexed his hands and rubbed them together – it was going to be brutally difficult mission. The Traveler Particle Magnums gave them a chance, but even at full power they only stunned the Asurans. ARGs would work for a few shots, and then it'd be up to explosives and stunning. The cargo bay that had been filled with weapons and crates for stolen Asuran technology were his only companions in his thoughts, there just wasn't more he could do now. A lone wolf had been his lifestyle for so long – why shouldn't the end of Pegasus be any different?

He'd gotten over the loss he'd experienced, Ronon had even come to accept that Rodney had died and wasn't coming back. All Ronon could do was continue the fight to honor his sacrifice. He'd lead Marines, Travelers, or whomever would follow him in that fight.

"Ronon."

Ronon turned – the cargo bay crew had left him alone, but he recognized Dusty's voice. He said nothing as he realized his entire team was approaching. "You okay there Ronon?" Vega asked.

Ronon noticed the little box in her hands. Drake held a bag in his – none of them were in battle gear, just the simple BDU's Atlantis always used. Ronon finally replied as they stood close. "I'm fine. Just preparing." He assumed they'd think he meant the battle, but in reality he was saying goodbye to Pegasus.

Vega sighed and opened the box. Ronon noticed the strange sticks inside. "We kinda guessed." She pulled out a stick and offered it to him. "You ever smoke one of these before?"

Ronon shook his head, and looked at the odd tube. "Nah, back on Sateda we had some smoking herbs but we used pipes."

Without being asked, Dusty and Drake shoved aside some of the crates and made a seat for themselves. Vega did the same as Ronon took one of large brown tubes and made his own seat. Drake reached into a little bag on his shoulder and pulled out four small glasses. "Alright, managed to sneak a few glasses outta the mess. Hope you all appreciate this." Drake looked back at the door as Dusty handed out the glasses, and produced a skinny but somewhat large bottle with slightly blue liquid from inside the bag. "Took forever, but those Travelers have some pretty sweet distillers on their ships. Pure and home brewed."

Ronon furrowed his brow. "The hell is that? Never seen liquor like that."

Drake poured a few fingers and handed the glass to Ronon. "This'll put some hair on your chest."

Vega and Dusty both snorted, Dusty shook her head as she accepted a cigar from Vega. "Like I don't have to shave enough, but I'll take one anyway."

Ronon sniffed as the other took their glasses. The beverage smelled like condensed fruit. "You made this stuff?"

Drake smiled and held it up. "Damn right, Remember those blue plum things that planet with the two giant moons grew? Got a whole bunch on my last trip and let it ferment with some help from the Travelers. Turned out a little sweeter than usual, but it's still got a kick."

Dusty took a little sip before wincing. "_Damn_, the hell proof is this?"

Drake shrugged and took a swig from the bottle – he didn't even seem fazed. "Hmm hundred, hundred thirty proof?"

Ronon sipped as well, the taste was fruity and sweet, but the punch of the alcohol on his tongue left a sharp burning sensation after. "You're supposed to add fruit to alcohol, not the other way around."

Drake shrugged and accepted a cigar from Vega. "Lightweights. Just sip, it won't kill you."

Everyone chuckled and Vega threw a wrapper at Drake in tease. They silently had a few sips before Ronon asked quietly. "Something you guys wanna tell me?"

Vega had just clipped one of the smoking tubes with some kind of cutting utensil and handed it to Ronon. "Just… I'm in for whatever you've got planned. I didn't come to Atlantis thinking it'd be a walk in the park. I'm here for the long haul even if it sucks sometimes."

"Not much for me back home." Drake smiled as he clipped his own tube and lit it with a match. "This place is a new start for me, plus those Travelers seem pretty cool, wouldn't want to miss out on that."

He handed the cigar cutter to Dusty who smiled as she clipped hers. "All I've got left on Earth is an ex-husband I spend _way_ too much time with. Whatever it is, I'm in too."

"I see." Ronon smiled at his team, all ready and willing to follow him to hell and back yet again. He'd have to carefully let them know what was going to happen. "Which one of you is gonna teach me how to smoke this thing?"

**Atlantis, Conference Room**

John was surprised by what had happened when Sam, Larrin and Wooley's meeting had ended. Neither Sam nor Larrin acknowledged him and just walked past. Woolsey had made a slight mention that he was looking forward to speaking with him once lunch was had, but John couldn't get anything out of any of them.

Chuck had been no help, but John couldn't blame him. The other technicians all looked at John with worry – something had happened that made him even more a pariah.

John did the only thing he could, he walked away from the control room and wandered. Atlantis was always good for walking around, but his thoughts kept him troubled. For almost an hour and a half he checked in around the city until Woolsey finally called him back.

When he arrived, the guard at the door asked him to relinquish his sidearm. John glared at him. "Are you kidding me?" A stern look was his only reply. The two guards were armed with Wraith stunners – their P90s attached to their vest lanyards. John reluctantly handed over his particle magnum and said. "I expect that back." The marine simply narrowed his eyes. John wondered how they'd been briefed before coming here.

He entered the conference room. Woolsey sat at the front of the table with a single guard next to him, the other two behind John now entered the room behind him and closed the doors. "Colonel Sheppard. Please, sit."

John didn't bother replyingand sat down with his arms on the table. He looked over to Sam and wondered why she hadn't spoken to him. He'd looked for her, but Chuck had mentioned that she'd done much like he had – she'd wandered around to the infirmary, the armory, her quarters and even came back to the conference room before Woolsey and his guards. She looked distraught though, John only noticed because he'd spent so much time with her. Sam narrowed her eyes to him as she noticed him looking - a warning.

Woolsey sighed as he opened his briefcase and pulled out his folder. It was a large one, and John had the distinct feeling that Woolsey had a lot of information on him. "Colonel Sheppard, I would like to start by saying that I think the job you have done here has been incredible given the circumstances. I have all the mission reports you and your teams have archived, and for all intents and purposes, Atlantis is still standing because of the efforts of your command with yourself in particular."

John recognized a compliment sandwich when he saw one. "For some reason I don't think you called me down here just to praise me."

Woolsey replied smoothly along with a facial tic. "Perceptive, just like your career service vitae says. It says a lot about you actually."

John internally mocked Woolsey for using the full term, but then caught the meaning. His black marks from Afghanistan were coming back to haunt him, an easy out for the IOA to use. No wonder Sam gave him the warning. "I'm sure it does."

"Colonel, there has been much speculation on the IOA Council. Given our plans for the expedition, I will be frank and tell you that you are being recalled for an exhaustive review-"

It didn't hit John as hard as he thought it would. He expected it, so there was little shock. What did bother him was that this place – his home, was being taken from him. He'd fought and bled for this place and the people here, and now the IOA was going to make it all for nothing. He'd sacrificed his family on Earth, any potential for a life back on his homeworld in the four years he'd been here. All of it was now meaningless according to the IOA. Everything flashed before John's eyes. The first year where they'd fought for simple control of the city. Fighting Kolya and his soldiers – a dark stain on his soul of a platoon of dead men. Losing Ford to the Wraith, and then barely keeping his position in the city thanks to Elizabeth… the stresses got no better with time. One disaster leading to another – narrowly averting each through willpower and sheer luck.

It was obvious they must have assumed he was planning something. For once they had assumed correctly. This was happening too fast, too soon, Larrin might know and attempt to rescue him. But he doubted it especially after their last talk. Maybe he should have taken her offer.

John looked up at Woolsey with ferocity in his eyes, but he noticed something strange as Woolsey droned on about regulations, potential colonization, as well as the possibility of his return if he helped with aforementioned colonization.

Sam was staring at him, her mouth miming words. John tried to decipher what Sam was mouthing while pretending to pay attention to Woolsey. '_Lumber?_ _The? Gable?'_

Lumber the Gable? John blinked and shook his head quickly. Obviously he'd interpreted her wrong and he had to try and pay more attention. Sam was desperately trying to tell him something, and now he knew it was the only important thing left.

'_Lum… no… Un…Un-der… the… table?'_

"Colonel Sheppard."

John blinked and looked back at Woolsey quickly, Sam's secret message to him finally interpreted. "Yes?"

He realized what Sam was saying, and despite it sounding ludicrous, he sneakily shifted one hand to his thigh and began to poke gently under the table in front of him. Woolsey's voice was almost dejected. "You haven't been paying attention to a word I've been saying, have you?"

John's hand bumped into something – something was hidden _under the table_. He stealthily ran his hand along it and recognized the butt of a particle magnum. He then noticed Sam was wearing one on her hip – not something she did with regularity.

"Actually yeah… _I have_ been paying attention." John looked around him, the moment had finally come and to his utter shock, Sam had made a decision – a decision to try and save him. He looked up at Sam with apology and wonder. She looked almost ready to scream beneath her well practiced serious face.

Woolsey raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Oh? And what is your reply to these proposals and suspicions?"

John took a very deep breath and planted his feet on the ground. He'd only have one shot at this. He tensed, closed his eyes and uttered a small prayer of forgiveness. He then looked up at Woolsey and hissed something he'd learned a long time ago at the Academy – it suddenly made perfect sense. _"__Ow-dah-kays for-too-nah yoo-waht."_

Woolsey screwed his face in confusion. "Fortune favors the bold? What are you-" John shot a glance to Sam and nodded. His feet slammed into the ground hard propelling him and the chair he was on back, his hand ripping the Magnum taped to the underside of the table out.

As he fell back, he managed to get one shot off at Woolsey, the red bolt flew straight and true and nailed Woolsey on the left shoulder propelling the politician back over his chair as well. John slammed into the ground and rolled, knocking one of the guards behind him down in the melee. He hoped that-

Another red bolt soared over John's head, and the still standing guard behind him grunted loudly as he fell to the floor stunned. John grappled with the other and with the element of surprise nailed him with a stun shot quickly ending their tussle. John knew he had to get to cover before the other guard-

The blue bolt of the guard's stunner grazed John's left shoulder numbing him. John groaned loudly and rolled – he needed to get away.

A loud smack and grunt came from the shot's direction, and John crawled up the table despite the numbness tingling across his chest. He watched as Sam spun around and connected a hard palm strike to the already hurt Marine's chest. He'd seen Sam in a gunfight before, but the Marine had been so close she had opted on melee moves.

Using her other hand, Sam jabbed hard to the Marine's gut doubling him over as he tried to react to the surprise attack. Sam spun around again and used her legs to sweep the marines knees out from under him, crumpling him to the ground. The marine recovered and tried to get up, but Sam calmly pointed her magnum down at him and fired a single shot stunning him.

Silence. The only sound was their heavy breathing as the realization came to them. Sam turned to him but couldn't say anything… John knew they were damned for this decision and they had to live with it now. He had no clue what he could possible say.

Sam trembled as she looked around. It was almost as if she only now fully realized that she'd stunned two marines and assisted John with stunning another along with Woolsey. Assault and Battery, illegal usage of firearms, _treason. _Sam managed to keep the strength in her voice as she stared back at him. "I just took one hell of a bullet for you. Now I _want_ to pull the trigger. _Do not _make me regret this."

John could only stare back. His delicate house of cards he'd built this entire plan on had just crumbled. Time was up.


	3. Demitte Nobis Debita Nostra

**Demitte Nobis Debita Nostra**

"_By that sin, fell the angels."_

**Daedalus, Bridge**

**En Route to Asuran Wolfpack**

"We've got a good lock on their position." Major Marks said as he checked the sensors versus his navigational data. "We'll be able to drop in right on top of them, with the Aurora dropping in behind them. Between the two of us we should be able to disable the Asurans without needing the Traveler ship support."

Behind Marks, Colonel Caldwell made a gruff noise in his throat. "Alright. I want everyone at battlestations. Bring our forward guns online – I want a precision strike on their shield generator and engines as soon as we drop from hyperspace. Tell the Aurora to concentrate on on keeping the other two busy while we disable it."

Marks did as he was told and tried to orient the craft so they'd have a perfect shot on the Asurans as soon as they dropped. The Captain in charge of communications did the same. They wouldn't be anymore ready than this. Major Marks took a deep breath – this was going to be just a little vengeance for those who'd fallen before him. "Thirty seconds out, weapons systems warmed up."

Nobody said anything, everyone knew their duty. Marks silently hovered his finger over the 'fire' button.

When the ship exited hyperspace, he was greated to the rear side of an Asuran Aurora. He didn't even ask as he tapped the button. A pair of Asgard pulse cannons spat out from the front of Daedalus, easily tearing through the engine pods of the Asuran Aurora and disabling it from moving. The other two Auroras raised their ships in response as Daedalus began to move at sublight –dodging what little of their plasma fire it could.

"Enemy damage report!"

Marks didn't pay much attention as Caldwell asked for reports, he had to focus. Daedalus moved upwards and angled for a second strike, the blue plasma bolts shimmered as they impacted the Asuran ship's shields, but fire leaked through and scorched the hull – only a few shots would be enough. Marks didn't have time for more though and sped the ship up, the other Auroras were honing in on them from behind.

The Traveler Aurora appeared behind them as planned and opened fire with its drones. One of the Auroras turned back, but Marks knew what to do. He angled Daedalus up high enough for one of the rear Plasma Beam emitters and lanced a beam across its shields – depleting the enough that the Traveler Aurora might get a few good shots in.

He only hoped the battle on the Asuran ship itself would go just as smoothly – it was about to start once he spun around and took down the first Asuran's shields.

"Suppressive fire!" Ronon fired his pair of magnums at full power and managed to stun the Asuran crewman who'd noticed them beam in and turned. The team behind him consisted of his own squad, a pair of marines and several Travelers. They only had to go through a small area to reach the core of the ship were the ZPM was stored. The Asuran they'd stunned was likely warning the rest of the ship to the invasion. "Move out!"

The corridors were eerily reminiscent of the last time Ronon had engaged the Asurans. He kept it down in a dark place as he took point. The Asurans were going to pay for everything they'd done.

It was well beyond human limitation how quickly the Asurans replied. A pair of them had appeared at the end of the hallway in a transporter and fired their plasma pistols. Ronon ducked, as did everyone in his team. The mass fire from their particle magnums It would only work for a minute or two but in the laager style formation the team used, they could keep moving without too much risk. Holding a position while extracting the ZPM was the difficult part. The two Asurans fell quickly and the team rushed forward. The power room was void of any other Asurans, but Ronon knew it wouldn't stay like that. Ronon waved his team into the room and held a hand up to Drake. "Get charges on those walls. When they come down we'll blow it and keep them from getting to us.

Drake nodded. "On it." He opened up a velcro section of his vest and pulled out a pair of C4 bricks,. He quickly attached them to the side of the hallways and stood back. Ronon did _not _want to get into a firefight with the Asurans as even a single hit from their plasma pistols could put a man out of a fight – he only hoped the Travelers behind him were quick with the ZPM.

* * *

The battle was going well, Marks had been able to disable two of the Aurora's shield generators and engines with the newly enhanced plasma cannons, thought they'd taken some light damage as a result. The Traveler Aurora had crippled the third Aurora and now it was just a matter of declawing these ships and stealing as possible.

"Third Aurora disabled sir." Marks announced. "They've still got weapons but we've taken out the shield generators and engines. The Travelers will have to finish their weapons – our railguns don't have the punch and plasma is too powerful."

Caldwell grumbled. "Well don't take any fire we don't have it. No sense giving them a lucky shot." He turned tot eh communications officer. "Any word from the strike team?"

"Yes sir, Ronon's got the ZPM from the first ship and he's just beamed back. They're preparing to move onto the second ship."

Mark had to admit, the fight was going well – if they'd had these cannons months ago things might have been different in this galaxy. "Good, have our engineers take that ZPM and hook it up to Daedalus' systems right away. No sense letting that power go to waste."

The Captain nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Once we've got all out people out Marks, destroy that Aurora."

Marks hesitated for a moment before getting to work on his console. "Yes, sir."

Caldwell noticed the hesitation and asked. "Something wrong, Major?"

Marks shook his head. "No sir, just curious."

"About?"

Marks knew Caldwell appreciated his honesty in private, he'd never spoken up on the bridge before. He kept as respectful as possible. "Well sir, I'm just thinking, these Auroras are some of the most advanced technology around. It's a bit of a shame to just destroy them."

"Unfortunately, we just don't have a choice." Caldwell explained easily. "It would be nice to snag a few of these but we just don't have the small arms firepower to take out replicators anymore. We'd lose a lot of people and I don't think it's worth it for a ship we can take out with our current technology."

It made sense – but Marks had to agree moreso with the idea of keeping people alive in exchange for technology. "Yes, sir. Targeting their sub-reactors."

The ship was quiet as the plasma lanced out and broke through the Aurora's hull – it burned a clean hole and hit the target – secondary explosions rocked outwards and shattered the Aurora. Marks sighed. "Target destroyed. Orienting for the next target." He'd just input the orders when a warning flashed on his HUD, he tapped it and brought up the alert – _Oh crap._

The Operations Officer spoke up. "Colonel." His voice sounded grave, Marks knew exactly why.

"Yes?"

"New contact on sensors." The Ops officer replied.. "Two Aurora Wolfpacks converging on our position. ETA is twenty minutes."

* * *

"Another ZPM in the hold, sir." Marks announced, Ronon's team reported on their status. "We took some casualties on this raid."

Caldwell groaned softly. Marks winced – at least they'd died for a good cause. "How many?"

Marks looked over the report and sighed. "Three Travelers, two Marines. Ronon's asking for more men for the last ship."

Caldwell drummed his fingers and asked loudly. "How much longer for those Auroras?"

The Ops officer sighed and shook his head. "We can't get an exact location while they're in hyperspace, but best guess is five minutes."

"Alright." Caldwell took another few seconds to think and stood up. "Allocate anyone Ronon needs and beam them over. Marks, destroy those last 2 Auroras once they're back, can't risk them getting…"

An alarm suddenly began to sound, and the ops officer announced. "Sir, Incoming hyperspace window!"

"I thought you said we had five minutes." Caldwell hissed.

The Ops officer's voice caught, and Major Marks had to take over from his console. "Not Asuran sir, it's a Wraith signal. Looks like a Hive but…"

"But _what?"_ Come on Major!"

Marks brought it up on screen, the Hive looked almost like it had bulked up on muscle. Hard to do for such a large ship. "It's giving off _much _stronger energy readings than a Hive should be."

"Hmm, must be that Superhive Ronon was talking about." Caldwell sat up, both cautious and a little excited to give the Wraith back a little of what he'd gotten. "Bring forward guns to bear. Let's see what they've-"

The Hive opened fire with its main guns before Caldwell could finish. Marks watched the oddly large balls of plasma fly out, but not towards Daedalus. Instead, it fired at the Traveler Aurora. Normally a tactically insane decision as an Aurora could rip a hive to shreds in moments. But something seemed odd about the large blue plasma shots. "Sir, they've opened fire. Ten seconds to impact."

The crew watched as the surprisingly slow moving plasma streaked towards the Traveler Aurora. Marks watched – surely this superhive wouldn't- Each blast hit with a force strong enough to visibly buckle the shields. The Aurora jerked violently as it barely held off the barrage. Marks screamed out what the sensors reported. "Aurora shields are down to twenty percent! They won't be able to take another hit like that."

Caldwell didn't hesitate; Marks thanked his keen ability to stay focused. "Beam the crew over now! Keep the Asuran Auroras between us and it!"

The fight was supposed to be over, but seeing the Hive fire another barrage, one half intended for the Traveler Aurora, the other for Daedalus, Marks realized that things had just taken a severely bad turn.

Marks kept the ship in motion – taking fire he didn't have to from such a powerful craft was foolish and the Traveler Aurora wasn't going to last much longer. They were out of range of their primary weapons and he didn't relaly feel like getting that close. Caldwell seemed to agree as they played cat and mouse.

The Superhive took a broadside position and Marks recognized what it was about to do. "Sir, they're orienting for a full barrage, the Traveler Aurora won't survive it, and they might target the Asurans as well."

"Make sure Ronon and his team are back, ZPM or not!"

Marks didn't have to worry about that at least, but he kept Daedalus moving – the Superhive finally oritented itself and fired – almost two dozen obscenely large plasma bolts flew out, all the ships in the area were targeted. Daedalus would dodge most, but they'd still take at least two hits. "Incoming! Brace for impact!"

Six shots had crippled the Traveler Aurora and now, another six impacted on the hull. The metal seemed to explode on contact – the once mighty Aurora craft shattered and seemed to pulverize from the secondary explosions along the main hits. Daedalus' shields flared and the craft rocked – each shot took a clean eight percent off their shields, but a good amount washed through damaging the hull. The Asuran Auroras followed suit as the shots left little but torn scrap and metal - how the Wraith had created such a powerful craft was beyond Marks, but it would take the firepower of an entire fleet to fight this thing.

"Ronon and his team are back! Third ZPM acquired!"

Another bleeping came up on Marks' console, a large hyperspace window was opening. "New contacts! Two Asuran wolfpacks just jumped in system!"

Caldwell barked orders and requests. "Get as detailed a scan as you can on that Hive, and get those Auroras between us and it!" He used his fist to turn on the ships intercom. "Novak, how long till you have that second ZPM hooked up?"

"Incoming! Brace!" Marks called out, this time seven shots impacted Daedalus – the shields held but the sheer amount of energy was able to break through and puncture the hull. He got alarms from several systems about overheating – as if the suddenly shorting panel to their rear wasn't signal enough. _Why wasn't Caldwell running?_

"_Another two, *hic* minutes, sir!" _Novak replied over the intercom – Marks knew they wouldn't last more than a few more barrages from the Hive, even with two ZPMs attached to the ship's systems.

Daedalus would easily overpower even Odyssey with two ZPMs, but this Superhive… whatever it was that was powering it was just as powerful. The Asuran Auroras sent signals to Daedalus but Caldwell squelched them before Marks could answer – Caldwell was calling the shots.

Another barrage of fire washed over the shields knocking the craft about as it tried to move. _Every _system was redlining on heat and their shields were down to forty seven percent. "Marks!" Caldwell screamed – _dammit I'm doing the best I can!_

Marks knew he needed to get from point A to point B in the quickest way, so he fired a little fire from the Auroras would be better than the Hive. He pulled the ship around in a corkscrew and hit military thrust on his console. They were pointed straight at the formation of Asuran Auroras.

"What are you-?" Caldwell began, but Marks was quicker. He angled Daedalus up and dodged the first two Auroras – their dorsal batteries opened fire but it was nothing Daedalus couldn't take. The next two Auroras were angled so Marks had to left Daedalus drift a little and overcharge the thrusters to keep from crashing into them. He aileron rolled to squeeze between the two of them and spread the damage along the ship's hull. The last two were very close – they'd closed in to prevent Daedalus from escaping. What they didn't realize is that Marks would rather risk that then face the Hive head on. He jackknifed between the Asuran Auroras so close their shields impacted and scraped as Daedalus forced its way through. Alarms rang throughout the ship and more sparks flew – the power grid was taking a serious beating and Marks knew they'd need yet _another _overhaul after this fight – as long as they survived.

Once they were clear, Caldwell regained control. He watched on the screen as the Auroras ignored Daedalus and instead went for the Hive – Marks gave silent thanks for the overhemling attack code. Caldwell spoke with shock in his voice. "Insane move Marks, but it worked. Now I want you to take a long approach from the flank of the Hive."

Marks turned and looked at Caldwell – _I just tore this ship's systems a new one getting us away, what are… _"Sir?"

"Look." Caldwell pointed up at the screen. The Hive didn't move from its broadside, and instead faced off against the six Asuran Auroras. A wave of drones and plasma fire like Marks had never seen flowed out as they took a vertical phalanx maneuver . The Hive took hits all along its hull, but sensors read little damage. The Hive quickly regenerated the damaged hul land fired back – the Auroras veering off to take as little fire as possible. Marks watched as hundreds of drones and scores of plasma fire raked across the hive, only to regenerate. That's when he realized why the Wraith must have built such a craft.

They were after Atlantis, the last gateway to the Milky Way, and with a craft like that; even with three ZPMs the city stood wouldn't hold up.

"I want you to target their hyperdrive systems. We can't kill it but we can cripple it."

Marks turned his head back to his console and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Daedalus banked as it turned, leaving behind smoke trails from the damage it had taken. Marks kept quiet as the ship took the scenic route – watching as the Hive easily tore the lead Aurora in half with its plasma cannons – they hadn't even lasted thirty seconds.

The Hive was taking damage though from the focused fire, and pieces of the shattered armor regenerated even as more fire poured onto it. _This is insane. This thing is ridiculous. _

Caldwell seemed to understand and spoke. "I want all weapon systems activated. I want an alpha strike on that Hive's hyperdrive to keep it from following us. Arm all nuclear ordanance in the tubes. Acknowledge!"

Each officer gave an affirmative, Marks did the same as the Hive now entered the Daedalus' field of view – it was being washed over by Asuran plasma fire but _didn't die. _"Yes, sir." Marks checked his console, each weapon system blipped green one by one as they were prepared. The Daedalus' missile tubes were armed with Mark 9s – typically reserved for destroying Stargates. The amount of fire they were about to unleash rivaled a _Horizon, _but on a point the size of a football field.

The hive continued to ignore it – Marks prayed as they began to come into weapons range. "Fifteen seconds to optimal range."

"I want Hyperdrive as soon as we're clear." Caldwell ordered. "Do not confirm if the target is destroyed, we're hitting it and running."

Ten seconds. Marks breathed in and out a few times before holding it. "Firing!"

Daeadlus rocked from the sheer amount of ordanence it fired. Blanket sheets of railgun fire, six rapidly fired Asgard pulse cannons followed by two Mark 9s and several smaller nukes. Marks peeled off after confirming each shot was fired – but the Hive had noticed the move. Marks throat parched as he yelled. "Hive opening fire! Brace-"

The near point blank range meant there was no dodging, The ship rocked as a dozen plasma shots slammed into it, the smell of smoke and burnt electronics permeated everything on the bridge and the main screen flickered in and out. Caldwell saw the incoming fire and screamed. "Get us outta here! _Now!" _

Marks hit the hyperdrive button and was relieved to see the shimmer before him – what worried him was all the systems on the ship that had gone silent, and the fact that he _knew _not all the Travelers on their Aurora could have possibly made it off.

* * *

Dusty groaned loudly as the medic peeled off the charred Kevlar on her upper chest. She tried to consider herself lucky that the shot had to burn through a console before it hit her, as well as not hitting any further south, which would have been particularly painful. The morphine flowing through her was enough not to worry much, but not enough to stop her fist clenching at the feeling of skin peeling.

Daedalus had survived, but she could see the lack of electronics working around her. She didn't know the difference between blood plasma and energy plasma, so she just hoped those around her who were paid to deal with it were good at their jobs. For now, the Medic who treated her was the most important person. That and Ronon who sat beside her with one strong hand on her opposite shoulder.

Drake had taken fire too, but his pack had taken the brunt of the hit and he sat next to her along side Alicia with a field dressing on his back _Lucky Vegabond_. Dusty felt hazy from the painkillers flowing through and winced with a laugh as the medic slathered her burnt skin with a cream. "Ow. Ha ha ha."

Alicia shook her head and gave her leg a gentle shove.. "Come on, Dustaroni. Balls out."

Dusty had to smirk at how Drake and Ronon gave each other a look at the comment. They just didn't understand. "Not this again. I've told you Leesh, Barbie and GI Joe aren't biology lessons."

Drake chuckled and shook his head. Ronon looked adorably confused while Alicia just smiled. They'd accomplished their mission. Dusty tried not to think about the lives that had been spent doing it – and was just glad that they'd survived. The medic stood after dressing her wound with gauze and spoke. "Sorry guys, I hate to say this but visiting hours are over. We've got a full house and you'll only be getting in the way." He looked to Drake. "You on the other hand need some antibiotics anyway and you…" he looked at Alicia. "You look like you haven't slept since we left Atlantis."

Alicia shrugged. "I'll take a catnap later. I've hit ninety hours in combat."

The medic scoffed and shook his head. "Dexadrine doesn't count. Now, we'll be in Atlantis in three hours so yes, go get a nap. Find a cot somewhere or else I'll have security force you to."

Alicia rolled her eyes and grabbed a hold of Drake beside her. He groaned softly as his wound complained - Dusty had gotten to the point where they'd become like a dysfunctional family. _Perfect. _

"Alright alright." Drake muttered and pulled Alicia's hand off. She stared at him. "I think we can celebrate a bit. You still got some of that blue stuff?"

"Trade you for those cohibos."

Alicia and Drake chuckled as the waved to Dusty and walked away. Ronon looked over at the medic and Dusty could read the expression. Five minutes more wasn't much to ask. "I'll go once I'm done."

The Medic looked at Ronon for a few moments, he wasn't a small man, but he still had to look up at Ronon. He sighed and nodded. "Just please, let her get some rest. I have patients to attend to."

With that, the medic left them. Dusty looked around the infirmary now that she could – other men and women were in pain just like she was, but she noticed how each was being treated and taken care of – nobody was alone. "Guess you usually get what you want."

"Easier this way." Ronon replied.

They both smiled and Dusty took Ronon's hand. The shot that had gotten her wasn't life threatening but it had knocked her down. The shock had left her dazed, and Alicia had to drag her behind cover as the Travelers finished grabbing the ZPM. Drake had covered them with Ronon, both men emptying their magnums into the rush of Asuran forces.

The Asgard beaming technolody had a strange timing effect to it. It always got them out just in the nick of time. Time, the most valuable resource Dusty felt she had.

"How bad does it hurt?" Ronon asked.

Dusty shrugged, she hadn't even changed into scrubs so she had to pull her vest aside to show him. "Morphine helps. The armor plate took the shot but it cooked my radio. I'll have a radio shaped scar once it heals."

Ronon chuckled softly – he seemed to understand her macabre sense of humor. "Hrm, like anyone'd get to see it."

Dusty liked that Ronon could talk to his team like this. It had been such a long time and the only person she could talk to like this was Alicia. Ronon teasing her felt like exactly what she needed. "Well you might have, but forget that."

"Ha!" Ronon scoffed.

"Don't get too excited." Dusty smiled coyly. "You might be cute but it takes more than a cool scar for me"

"Noted." Ronon replied – Dusty may have liked the familiar feelings of working with this team, but Ronon's short worded replied always left things vague. Somehow Dusty felt that only made it better for her right now – she didn't want to know exactly what was going to happen to her.

Dusty quieted and spoke seriously. "Thanks Ronon. I really mean that."

"What for?"

"I uhh, I'm glad you trusted me. I know Carter trusted Alicia, and you trust Carter. Alicia told me that she vouched for me and you accepted. It's been a long time since I felt like I belonged anywhere and…" Dusty sighed and she squeezed Ronon's hand tightly. "I have nothing critical on Earth. My mom and I made our peace when I joined the Air Force and like I said, I spend way too much time with the other person I know there." She lost her smile and stared off into the distance. "When the Ori came to the Milky Way, Alicia and I got picked. I'd just gotten divorced and well, I thought I was gonna die. Alicia helped me through that. You never saw the Ori right?"

Ronon shook his head. "Wraith are bad enough for me."

"Right, well, I almost wish you were there. Even with Alicia's help, we saw some really dark stuff from them. Stuff that'd make the Wraith tremble. I guess we came to Atlantis with the same thinking." Dusty stopped and took a deep breath. "It's in the past. " She looked up to Ronon and smiled. "Now I'm thinking maybe I belong here. It feels like home, you know?"

"I know. I'm glad you're here too."

They held hands for another few moments, and Ronon nodded his leaving. Dusty sighed and wondered – what exactly did Ronon have planned that he didn't think they'd go back to Earth?

**Atlantis Main Tower, Middle Section**

Lorne couldn't believe it, leaving Earth behind. It was something that was just beyond his comprehension. Pegasus wasn't far enough away to really be out of touch with Earth, three and a half weeks was all it took to get here with easily reproducible technology He'd spent longer times on off-world missions in the Milky Way.

This was different; the plan Teyla had told him was to get far enough that it _wasn't _that easy. To get so far away the IOA wouldn't be able to find them. Abandoning Earth, the Air Force, the SGC…

Evan just couldn't wrap his head around it. He still had family on Earth – family he wasn't willing to let go of. Not to mention his oath to the Air Force – he had sworn to uphold those codes and tenets, and he couldn't bring himself to break them.

How could Sheppard? Evan had known the man for a few years now and _t_hat was the biggest shock of all. This wasn't something that a scientists, or a section eight soldier had planned. Even the Travelers hadn't been involved until John had included them. The _Military __Leader_ of this base had decided to become a traitor to his oaths and take control. All Lorne could imagine was what would happen when Woolsey found out.

Not that Lorne wanted to be the one to tell him – oh no. Lorne liked to think of himself just as loyal to his friends and family as to the Air Force. The only problem was, both sides of the equation were the same people.

**Atlantis, Control Room**

Chuck watched as Sheppard walked out of the conference room along with Carter in tow. Woolsey was nowhere to be seen, neither were his guards. Carter passed by, but John stood by him. They both looked frazzled. "Uh, you okay sir?" Chuck asked with concern.

Sheppard looked to Chuck and nodded quickly. "Yeah, yes, why? Something wrong? Nothing's wrong." He replied quickly. Chuck was shocked at how much adrenaline it looked like John had flowing through his system. "I'm just pissed off, okay?"

Chuck knew his place and shrugged, though he wondered what Woolsey had told the agitated Colonel. Agitated was understating what he saw in both Sheppard and Carter.

"Chuck?"

Chuck turned back to John and kept professional. "Sir?"

Sheppard seemed troubled, and he kept his voice low. "Random question, Earth or Atlantis?"

_Not so random. _Chuck had seen it all happening. The secret meetings, the looks each member of their little gang shot each other during conferences or conversations. Even the way Sheppard and Carter were acting right now. Add that to the mission Daedalus was undertaking, the Travelers being so friendly –_ Hmm. Was Larrin trying to buy me? –_ The fact that Doctor Jackson had refused to go back. They had something planned. The most damning evidence was how Woolsey didn't immediately request either a sitrep on the base, or for another person to come for an interview.

Chuck had family at home, but he didn't join the RCAF to be safe. He couldn't bring himself to face his family knowing what was going on here – he couldn't be happy knowing he'd abandoned these people. "Are we speaking metaphorically or literally?" He watched John turn to look at him. He nodded slightly – the other technicians in the room weren't paying attention – too focused on their jobs.

Chuck watched as Sheppard looked over to Carter. She'd taken a flanking position and had spoken to the two Traveler guards – the Marines in the room looked mildly confused – but they couldn't have suspected it. Sheppard replied quietly as he pumped his fist – ready to draw his sidearm. "What if I told you both?"

Chuck looked around nonchalantly – this was about to go down and Sheppard was giving him a choice. Chuck took a deep breath and turned to Sheppard. "Can't go back to one if the other's gone." He looked back to Sheppard and nodded. "I'm with you."

* * *

John looked around the control room – he noticed the Marines begin to look around suspiciously – the technicians other than Chuck were unaware – blissfully unaware. Chuck was the only one who'd noticed and now, he was the only one standing beside him. John reached into the back of his pants and pulled the spare magnum from his belt. He handed it to Chuck. "Stun only. The one on the left."

Now, John watched as Amelia narrowed her eyes and looked up at him. "Colonel, what's-"

"Now!" Sam yelled – and John aimed at the Marine across the room from him. The two marines had noticed the exchange as well, but had only begun to draw their sidearms. John stunned one, while Chuck aimed and took the other down.

With equal speed, the Travelers took down the gate technicians –including Amelia. The coup had begun in earnest.

* * *

Major Lorne wasn't stupid – going to see Carter about this on his own was going to be difficult. He'd gathered a few marines on his trip and had told them to be ready for anything. He'd chosen marines sent by the IOA, not Atlantis personnel – if John was going to do this, gods knew who else was involved. He'd get it out in the open, and Sheppard would clarify what was going on. Teyla had to have it wrong, Sheppard couldn't possibly be planning to take Atlantis by force, he couldn't be planning to take Daeadlus either. It all had to be some big mistake.

They'd reached the stairs leading up to the gateroom when Sheppard's voice suddenly came over the PA. Lorne could hear a sort of strange double speak hearing both the Colonel upstairs, as well as over his headset. _"All Atlantis residents, May I have your attention please. This is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard."_

Lorne held his hand up to the Marines and held his position. He wanted to hear what Sheppard had to say. _"As many of you know, we have been pursuing the option of sending all refugees to the Milky Way galaxy to escape the Replicators and the Wraith. Just a few minutes ago, the IOA has made their final ruling on this matter. No refugees are to be sent back to the Milky Way on account of the possibility of Wraith Worshipers or Asuran spies. Additionally, I am to be replaced by another Colonel more sympathetic to their ideology."_

_Okay, that's not good. _Lorne turned to the Marines beside him – they didn't look too fazed but they were definitely not happy. Lorne knew about the ruling they'd done but Sheppard leaving?

"_The IOA has also given us a new set of orders – a new mandate for this base. At this moment, Daedalus and several Traveler ships are en-route to attempt to procure Zero Point Energy Modules to power this base's defensive systems when the Wraith come again, or at least that's what the majority of you believe."_

Lorne knew the truth. It was to power the Wormhole Drive. He could understand why they hadn't told the IOA about it – they would have pulled them all and put their own people in charge – as well as get rid of the refugees.

"_Instead, our orders from the IOA are to take the majority of these ZPMs back to Earth to power our planetary defenses, __with only one remaining here to submerge the city to try and hide from the Wraith and Replicators. All refugees are to be sent to another world – one already hit by the Replicators in the hopes they don't double back, and the Wraith won't find them."_

The Major's throat caught as he heard those words. Was the IOA so stupid as to order something so-

"_I am here to tell you all that I refuse to follow those orders, and am declaring independence from the IOA and Earth. I will not abandon anyone here to the Wraith or Asurans, and neither willI leave this place at the mercy of a siege. Atlantis is ours now, and I promise, you will all have a place here. Larrin, Now would be a good time."_

Major Lorne gulped as he waved the marines with him forward – they had all drawn their sidearms. Lorne did the same as he walked up to the gateroom itself, he could see Sheppard's head above the console but didn't have a shot. The Marines took defensive positions and waited on his word.

"_To all military personnel on the base. If you don't agree with me, realize that the __Travelers have you outnumbered and are using stunners. Don't make this difficult, and I'll personally make sure you all make it back home. Anyone willing to assist, find the nearest Traveler security and turn yourself in. Nobody has to get hurt, lay down your arms and you'll be treated fairly."_

Lorne waved the marines with him ahead – there was no cover down here for them but it didn't matter. There were two Travelers watching who'd spotted Lorne approaching – they had already drawn their weapons and aimed. "Colonel!"

The marines opened fire first. One Traveler fell from two hits, while the other ducked and rolled. Lorne aimed for the control room and fired – his shot went too wide and hit the ceiling. The Travelers returned fire and Lorne watched Sheppard aim – and hesitate at shooting him. "Major."

Lorne fired first – he had a perfect shot at Sheppard's head but missed again when another shot downed the marine next to him – Carter had taken the shot from the bridge to her office. Sheppard returned fire as the Marines began to take hits. "Dammit Marines! Stop firing!" The Marines lack of cover forcing them back. Lorne ducked back and into the stairwell, blind firing back. He _should_ have hit. Constant training told him that the blue stun shot that flew past Sheppard _should _have hit him. He pushed it past, now focused on getting away from the tenuous position. This had just turned ugly and it was only going to get worse – how the _hell _had Sheppard convinced Carter to join him?

* * *

John and the other Traveler crouched and ducked to the right firing all the while. The four marines with Lorne quickly fell despite taking down two Travelers with their stunners, John put one down, Sam another, and the Travelers focused the two other down. Major Lorne had gotten away though, and John almost wished he hadn't. Any hope of a non-violent resolution was gone with Lorne having decided to fight them on this issue.

_**Atlantis, Infirmary**_

Daniel had been wounded enough times to know when he could keep moving. Seeing the Traveler guards suddenly move in and '_liberate' _the infirmary after John's little speech told him this was going from bad to worse. The infirmary staff were shocked, but didn't stop trying to treat the people inside. Doctor Keller in particular didn't even seem to care – just insisted that the Travelers stay out of her way.

To their benefit, they did stay out of the way. Daniel walked up to one of the older ones, he couldn't be more than thirty yet he seemed to be in charge. "Hey. What's happening?"

The Traveler turned to him. "What do you want? Larrin's orders are to keep everyone contained. Just keep quiet and you won't wake up with a headache."

Daniel sighed – he knew he needed to help. "Listen, I know about the coup. I've been working with Larrin and Colonel Sheppard to keep the refugees calm. They're going to panic once they see you guys taking over and I can help reassure them of what's going on."

"We've got people taking care of that." The Traveler seemed confident of it, but not arrogant which surprised Daniel. "Don't worry, they're alright."

_Reasonable guy, nice to meet finally. _"Listen, I understand that you've got your orders. I'm not asking you to let me go on my own. Give me one of your men and let me help. The refugees trust me and it'll make it easier to keep them calm."

The Traveler grumbled, but then nodded. "Alright, not like I don't know who you are" He motioned over to another Traveler. "Sylek!"

The younger Traveler came over and nodded. "Yes, Nevas?"

"Give Dr. Jackson your gun and armor. I'm taking him to the refugee sector and leaving you in charge."

"Excuse me?" Sylek replied. Daniel was surprised at how confrontational it sounded. "Exactly how am I supposed to defend myself?"

Nevas rolled his eyes. "You'll be fine here. Not like anyone's going to attack an infirmary. Take charge, you can do it.

Sylek shook his head but began to remove his armor. Daniel wondered what the chain of command was like for the Travelers. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Daniel checked the weapon. He hadn't used it before but it looked more or less simple. "You and me both."

**Atlantis Hallways, Main Tower**

"Hold your fire! Stop shooting dammit!_" _John screamed as he ducked behind cover. The rapid fire from the P90s the Marines used was _not _what he was used to in this galaxy.

John had met up with another Traveler team while Sam took care of the wounded and stunned. The city had erupted into chaos and nobody knew who was on what side anymore. The Travelers easily outnumbered the Marine Contingent, but the Marines were very well trained and some weren't using stunners – like these.

The Traveler across the hall from him looked panicky, but kept looking to John for guidance. John waited for the bursts of fire from the Marines to stop to wave forward, In unison they leaned out and fired a few shots suppressing the Marines. "Stop firing! Dammit we won't hurt you! Just stop firing!"

John slid into position using a jutting out section of the hallway for cover. He didn't feel any nostalgia about being shot at with bullets – each ping meant rang out the extent of what he was doing. "Stop! Stop dammit, stop!"

"_You're going down, traitor!"_

John winced at the reply. He breathed in and opened it as more Travelers came to join them. This was about to finish. "Marine! Stand down! For god's sake, look at goddamn situation! You're outnumbered and fighting for a cause that'd-"

"Not my problem!" The marine replied. John didn't recognize the voice. "I follow orders!"

John realized that most of the marines the IOA had brought in were likely to do the same. _Dammit. _He was just about to wave the other Travelers in when the one next to him suddenly howled and fell to the floor. The pair of Marines they'd been hunting down had gotten a lucky shot and tagged the Traveler in the leg. John waved at the other Travelers and pointed down the hall so they would give him covering fire.

This was what he wanted to avoid – bloodshed. John took a moment to calm himself down, and pushed off the wall – red stun bolts flew overhead and drove the Marines back. He heard a grunt from down the hall – at least one Marine had taken fire and the other wouldn't last long. John dove across the hall firing all the while. He risked a peek - both Marines had gotten bold from taking down the Traveler and was moving forward in a crouch as a pair of stun blasts threw them off their feet.

The Traveler who'd been shot whimpered from the pain in his leg. John quickly ripped the small medkit from his vest as he yelled into his communicator. "This is Sheppard! I've got a man down in section C-16! I need a medic down here _now!_"

"_Your men are shooting live rounds Sheppard!" _Larrin replied on the radio angrily. _ "I've got men down all over! I can't tell them to stun only!"_

"_No!" _John groaned as he ripped the Traveler's pants leg to expose the wound – through and through, little major damage, no arteries nicked. He'd live but it'd hurt like hell. Another Traveler moved John to the side as he took over. John rubbed his forehead and kept quiet. "_Dammit_ Larrin, we don't have to kill anyone."

"_There're shooting live rounds! I'm __not__ losing men if I don't have to!"_

John winced again and let a loud groan of frustration out. He switched the radio to an Atlantis wide frequency. "This is Sheppard to any IOA loyal Marines, for the love of god, stop shooting live rounds! You're outnumbered and you _can't_ win! We don't want to hurt you, just surrender and you'll-"

_"This is Major Lorne, orders are to take the renegades alive. Do not use lethal force unless necessary."_

There was no doubt. Major Lorne had decided not to join John and his coup. He couldn't blame him. – he couldn't blame anyone who stayed loyal. Yet the thought that Major Lorne could agree with the IOA… no there was something to his decision – he'd had a chance to stun John earlier and messed up his shot. It had caught John's attention as he didn't know Lorne to be a bad gunslinger. John latched onto Lorne's words and added. "Listen to the Major. For god's sakes don't kill anyone."

It was an empty plea – he knew they wouldn't listen to him anymore.

**Refugee Tower, Entrance **

"Not bad, you do any training with guns?"

Daniel holstered his weapon and sighed. So many years on SG1 and a few training sessions with Jack had improved his aim considerably with handguns. He hadn't realized he might actually be able to get the drop on a pair of Marines. "You could say that, what do we do with them?"

Nevas nodded and pulled out a small rod. He clicked a button and tossed it to the pair of IOA marines who lay slumped over stunned, their weapons policed by Daniel and hands tied with something akin to zipties by Nevas. "That's a locator beacon, they'll be out cold for hours, a team'll come pick 'em up in a few minutes. We're putting 'em all in one of the storage rooms while we process 'em."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Process?"

Nevas shook his head. "Nothing bad. Orders are to stun everyone who won't come willingly, find out if they'll be willing to help us run the city. We're smart, but we don't know everything going on. Never know who might want to help us."

Daniel felt a little better. "Well, that makes sense I guess." His back ached and he could feel a little trickle of blood from his wound. But there were things to do and he felt he was best to get them done. "Let's keep going. Once the refugees know the plan, they should calm down."

Nevas nodded and motioned to move ahead. He kept his voice relatively calm. "That reminds me… exactly how are we going to fight off the Wraith and Replicators?"

**Atlantis Storeroom**

Sam didn't enjoy what she was doing. It was already hard enough to listen to Woolsey's proposal to Larrin, and even harder knowing she was going to lose John one way or another. But what had really pushed her across the edge was the new planned orders the IOA were going to bring down. She hadn't ever believed they'd be so self-centered. She wondered how much input the Air Force and Marine Corp had in their decision. Woolsey's near glee at being assigned Atlantis' Political Officer was just another of the things she'd grown to detest about her job. This was Atlantis, not a Russian Nuclaer Submarine in the cold war.

With a Traveler's assistance, she dragged Amelia's limp body into a storeroom where the others who had resisted and were stunned into silence were being held. Nobody had woken up yet – Sam could see so many faces she recognized. . These were her friends and comrades, her subordinates. They'd done nothing wrong except follow orders from their superiors.

Sam questioned herself for the thousandth time. Why didn't _she_ follow orders this time? She could have forgotten this, Sam could have forced herself to think about the Milky Way and accept the IOA's offer. She could have let the IOA replace her and go home…

She'd grown too close to these people and this place. Sam kicked herself for having fallen in the same trap Daniel had. She'd fallen in love and refused to break her morals. This wasn't like Apophis' invasion, this was her decision and now she'd have to live with it.

It had been almost two hours since John had made his announcement and begun the task of hunting down their friends. She wondered what was happening on Daedalus and how that would go down – she knew several people had been injured, but nobody had died yet.

A single moderately used ZPM and the dozens of Traveler Naquadah Generators gave Atlantis only minimal options if Daedalus failed. Andromeda was the closest galaxy apart from Earch and there was no clue whether there were any habitable planets there. The database had no useful information on it, and it'd be just as easy for Earth to send Odyssey there. No, they had to hide further away. Radek had worked on a list of galaxies that the Ancients had in their database and said he'd found a few that looked promising, but only one that mentioned an appropriately habitable section far enough.

Hoag's Object. A ring galaxy over half a million light years away. The Wormhole Drive could theoretically reach it without issue, but it would take two years for a ZPM equipped Odyssey to reach there. Even with three ZPMs, Atlantis likely wouldn't be able to dial back to Earth for more than a fraction of a second. The database in Atlantis had detailed records of an outpost in Hoag's Object, so it was likely that there was at least one habitable planet they could transport the refugees and Travelers to.

Sam laid Amelia's limp body against the wall, nodded to the Traveler that had helped her and looked around. The Travelers weren't callous and had put them into cots and bunks – a crate of food and water was nearby for when they woke. Sam at least gave minor thanks this place had a decent washroom.

As she left the room – a trio of particle magnum armed Travelers guarding the door, Sam thought about Rodney's last words to her. Time had already run out and now it was a race against the inevitable –they still had much to do.

Another Traveler walked up to Sam with a radio. She handed it to Sam. "Colonel, Larrin wants to speak with you."

Sam nodded and accepted the radio. It was so strange to hear an honorific from an alien race. "Thank you." She attached the radio to her headset and spoke. "Larrin, this is Colonel Carter."

"_We're losing containment of the marine force. They're slipping through and sabotaging transporters. A few are still using live rounds and I've got dozens with gunshot wounds."_

Paying little attention to the misinterpreted name, Sam winced and ground her teeth. "I'm sorry, but they're soldiers trained to defend themselves. What do you think I can do?"

"_You're their superior." _Larrin replied. "_Tell them to stand down. They can't win but they can sure as hell hurt my people before we can stop them."_

Sam winced and held a finger against her temple. "Put me on the PA system, I'll do what I can but I can't promise anything."

A moment's hesitation. Finally Larrin acknowledged and cursed quietly. The PA rang out once as an announcement and Sam took a deep breath. "This is Colonel Samantha Carter. I am ordering all Marine and Air Force Personnel to lay down their arms. I cannot in good conscious follow an order that will bring out the deaths of the refugees in this city. You will not be harmed, and you will be returned to Earth."

"_Belay that order Marines!" _Lorne's voice suddenly cut in, Sam winced realizing that all the command staff – and evidently Major Lorne, had access to the PA system. _"Take them alive, Non-Lethal only! Proceed with defensive plan Alpha Foxtrot Uniform!"_

Sam cursed as she understood exactly what Lorne meant with the military colloquialism – guerilla warfare. "Major Lorne, I am ordering you to stand down. Nobody has to get hurt."

"_No can do Ma'am." _Lorne's voice sounded genuine. Sam had known him a long time and evidently the Major didn't take his decision lightly._ "Atlantis is a military base and we're under oath to defend it."_

_"Are you kidding me?" _John's voice suddenly cut in, An argument had broken out amidst the PA system of Atlantis and Sam shut her transmit off – she refused to be a part of such a childish thing. "_You can't seriously agree with the IOA."_

"_No sir." _Sam listened as she walked up towards the control room – the Travelers had secured it and she needed to know what was going on. Sam couldn't tell if it was respect or force of habit that had Lorne speak reverently. "_I just think there has to be a better way."_

"_You think I haven't tried? Goddamnit Lorne, Woolsey was here to-"_

_"__I know__ what he was here to do!" _The argument was heard throughout Atlantis; Sam wondered if anyone benefited from hearing the two men yell at each other._ "I don't like it anymore than you do! But there __has__ to be a better way than to-"_

"_There isn't! You think I wanted this?"_

"_You could have told us your plans. This didn't have to end up this way."_

Sam couldn't take much more of this, this was getting painful to listen to.- as if her heart wasn't already shattered.

**Atlantis Refugee Tower**

Nevas ducked and shoved Daniel to the side to avoid the stun shots flying at them. IOA marines had assaulted the refugee center in the hopes of causing enough chaos to move undeterred. Nevas had to give them credit – it was a brutally efficient tactic. The Travelers were trying to protect the refugee center and both men found themselves under fire. Nevas checked Daniel to make sure he was okay and then screamed into the hallway. "Drop your weapons, you aren't helping anyone!"

"_Eat a dick!"_

Another pair of stun bolts headed down and splashed across the wall. Nevas nodded to Daniel and held his wrist communicator to his face. "This is Nevas! I need support at refugee tower C-12! I'm pinned down with Doctor Jackson!"

Nevas fired a pair of shots to keep the Marines at bay, and Larrin's voice came in shortly after. _"We've got men all over Nevas! Hold on and I'll be… Hey!" _The sounds of a struggle came in and the distinct thump of fists and feet hitting. A man's voice groaned while Larrin's voice grunted as well. A final scream and the radio went silent except for a loud thump and footsteps.

Nevas wasn't worried, but Daniel asked. "Larrin, are you-"

_"Of course I'm fine, idiot."_

Nevas chuckled and looked over to Daniel. "She likes you."

"I wonder what she'd say if she hated me."

**Atlantis Infirmary**

The skirmishes taking place in the city weren't as crystal clear as John had wanted them. Instead of an overwhelming number of Travelers taking down the IOA Marines, it had devolved into a cat and mouse game the Marines struck where the Travelers were weak, and the Travelers had troubling pinning them down in response. These marines were doing their absolute best to be the biggest pain in the ass.

Zelenka was in the control room along with Chuck monitoring the city for sabotage. John knew from first hand experience that throwing the city into mechanical disarray was the easiest way to put an occupying force off guard, Larrin had been clear that while her forces were winning, she wasn't happy about all the injuries. John felt better as sheer luck that despite all the bullet wounds the Traveler's had sustained, nobody had died.

That is until the reached the infirmary, and John watched as Sam helped a wounded Traveler in, his torso a bloody mess. The look of almost despair Sam shot at them was too strong and John had to break the eye-contact.

The Traveler doctors and medics were in full ER mode, Atlantis's own doctors unwilling to allow those men and women to go untreated. Jennifer shot John a scornful look that was laced with regret as A look he'd been getting from a lot of people for the past 10 hours. He looked around – blood and whimpering people surrounded him, the fruits of his labors.

"Hey."

John heard it but it just didn't register – the wounded Traveler Sam brought in was put on a gurney, three medics working to stabilize the wound and keep him from bleeding out. Sam stood beside him – her shirt covered in his blood. John had three people's blod on his own clothes.

"Hey. You okay?" John turned to the voice, it was Larrin. She didn't look anywhere near as frazzled as Sam or Keller did. She wasn't giving him that scornful look anymore. "Yeah?"

Larrin stared at him, she whispered. "_Ascended ancestors."_ Larrin waved John to follow, she led them into a private office and turned to face him. "I haven't lost anyone yet, but I've got dozens of wounded and they're wondering why we did this. I need to tell them everything."

The coup hadn't been anywhere near as bloodless as John wanted, but even now he couldn't risk giving false hope. "It's too early to tell. We'll have Atlantis, but we need power."

Larrin sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I need to give them _something_. That's _exactly _why they need to know. They need to know we've got a plan and won't get blasted from orbit."

"Just wait till Daedalus gets back, please. Don't give them false hope."

* * *

The infirmary was heart breaking, but Sam needed to see it. She had to see what her actions, what her decision led to. She only hoped that things improved from here, that maybe at some point in what days she had left she could look back and say this was the correct decision. She'd seen John and Larrin move off – Sam wanted to talk to both of them. As she approached, she could hear them through the open door before they could see her.

"_Sheppard we- I can't take it anymore. I've got people wanting to take off and run. I __need__ to tell them."_

"_Nor yet, please. Wait till Daedalus gets back and we know for sure. It's chaos but we can manage, it'll turn into anarchy if things don't pan out."_

_Yeah, yeah it will. _Sam thought to herself. She leaned against the wall and sighed – her shirt was ruined and she almost didn't feel like going to get a new one. Sam didn't want to try and look presentable when the blood on her shirt was also on her hands.

"_You don't get it Sheppard, they're desperate. __**I'm**__ desperate. My people aren't soldiers dammit."_

"_I know, just one more day. Once we have the ZPMs we'll be able to move forward."_

_"You better be right. I want to give my people a good reason for why we've got so many wounded."_

"_I'm sorry Larrin, you know I'm sorry. But the IOA made itself clear and I won't abandon your people like that."_

Sam bit the insides of her lip and bowed her head. The infirmary was full of wounded people, she'd probably never see Earth again, and still, hearing John say those words gave her just a small note of pride.

**Atlantis Refugee Tower**

"Listen to me! You have nothing to be afraid of! You heard the Colonel, we're not going to abandon you or kick you out!"

Daniel could barely scream over the noise the refugees were making. They demanded answers and Daniel could understand not to give them the full story. All he knew wa that the Marines had attacked them with stunners – and now the Travelers were left trying to keep them calm. The Traveler security team that had reinforced him and Nevas had made short work of the two marines that held their ground, but several had been wounded and the majority of the Marines escaped into the city. He'd asked and there were still twenty-two IOA loyalists unaccounted for – including Major Lorne.

Not his problem, he had to find some way of calming these people down. Thankfully he'd taken a position on a railing high above the storeroom where the refugee camp was – one of almost a dozen in this tower. Two Travelers stood next to him as guards including Nevas. "You will _not_ be harmed! We're going to get you all out of here and to safety!"

It was like a protest at an embassy. Random objects flew up, someone was burning something, and the screams were incomprehensible. Daniel almost wished he could just stun them all into silence.

* * *

Corporal Grant hadn't been able to get away from the Travelers when they'd retaken the refugee tower. He was under strick orders from the loot to destabilize this place, and while he hadn't gotten out, they hadn't found him. He'd taken the liberty of hiding in a rather inconspicuous place in some of the refugee food stores and had his stunner aimed perfectly at Daniel Jackson using his arm as a bipod.

Grant wasn't enjoying having to do this, but he knew from experience that crowds were hard to contain, especially when you were trying to keep them safe. The whole idea of Atlantis going independent wasn't too hard to conceive of, but the idea that he might never see Earth again, or all he'd fought for was going to end up in the hands of the Travelers. Grant wasn't about to turn his back on Earth and the Air Force. So he aimed - Doctor Jackson might wake up with a headache, but the Travelers would have much harder time containing the refugees and that would buy Major Lorne and the few loyal marines left time to work out a plan, or at least enough time for Daedalus to arrive and reinforce them.

The blue stun bolt flew straight and true, it washed over Daniel from his torso all around him. But instead of just collapsing like Grant wanted him to, the Doctor keeled over from the hit and fell off the catwalk and into the crowd beneath him.

Grant immediately regretted it, and bolted out from his hiding spot. The Travelers returned fire, but the Refugee's panic served as a great meat shield. He rushed into them and shoved his way through. He'd almost made it to the door when he felt a distinct shock along his back from a Traveler stunner.

LINEBREAK

Major Lorne had managed to organize the few marines he had left into a fighting force of sorts. He kept his radio on a wide band so he could hear everything and what he heard was chilling. Doctor Jackson had been injured in a scuffle and was in the middle of a riot. He didn't really know why, but the Doctor had some kind of allergy to the universe in that he always got hurt, but he was never really in danger of losing his life – at least without finding it again.

The refugees were running amok – the Travelers really did have a hard time with the chaos and had taken to stunning everyone. Lorne took advantage of the situation and armed a fire-team, he wouldn't be held responsible for Daniel Jackson dying due to a Marine's duty to the IOA. At least that's what he'd tell them when he was finally caught by the Travelers.

**Atlantis, Sam's Office **

Sam had ensconced herself in her office once she'd changed clothes. How long it would remain her office was yet to be considered, but at least she might get some privacy here. When John showed up, she wasn't surprised. "You really think we can make it?"

John had taken a seat on the couch – it had been almost a full day since they'd been awake and the stress was starting to get to him in his replies. "What's the alternative? Run back to Earth with the ZPMs and leave these people with the IOA?"

"That's not fair." Sam ground her teeth and flexed her fist. Her bones ached and her muscles were sore- today had been one of the most difficult she'd ever had. "I did what I did because we need you here. There's still a chance we can sort this out."

"Sorry to burst the bubble, but I think stunning Woolsey pretty much ended my career, not to mention you helped."

Sam turned away and sighed. Sleep beckoned but there was just so much to do – stun all her friends and comrades being at the tope of that list. "Wouldn't be the first time I've shot a superior officer and gotten away with it."

"If you got something to say, say it."

Sam wanted to turn around and break John's nose. Nothing would give her more relief than to kick his ass all over her office. "What do you expect? I'm just going to be _happy_? How many people do you _honestly_ think are gonna go along with this?"

"Not many." John replied soberly. "Ronon's convinced his team will stay, Chuck's in for sure and so's Zelenka. The Travelers say some of the scientists are curious what we're going to do, never know who we'll get from there."

"Do they understand?" Sam hissed. "Do they _get it_ that there's no turning back? Jail is all that waits for us on Earth."

"It's not like we've announced exactly what we're doing."

"Maybe we should. Maybe you should just…"

The door opened putting an end to Sam's rebuke. Chuck walked in carefully. "Excuse me?"

Sam and John both relented and motioned him in. "Yeah, yeah what is it Chuck?" John said.

Chuck looked more than a little disturbed. "You guys might want to turn your radios on."

Sam sighed and flicked the switch on the radio on her desk – immediately it started screeching. _"…son is down! This is Nevas and I'm pinned down in the refugee sector by a large group of marines! I need medical aid! Jcakson's knocked out and took a fall, any free units converge!"_

Sam bristled and stood up straight. "Daniel…"

John remained silent a moment and then tapped his headset. "Nevas, this is Sheppard, what's the situation?"

"_My team is pinned down and running low on ammo! Marines hit us hard and took out most of the guards holding the refugees in their towers. Looks like they're protecting Daniel but he didn't look good the last time I saw. The refugees are panicking and they've broken containment! We need immediate riot control and medical support!"_

Sam turned to John and the look in her eyes was all she could give him.. John simply nodded and hand went to his side. "Got it, we're on our way."

Sam turned to Chuck and hoped he was still willing to listen to her orders. "Keep in radio contact and use the city's sensors to guide us."

"Yes, Ma'am."

**Atlantis Refugee Tower**

Sam took only a moment to think before raising her Magnum and squeezing the trigger. A pair of red bolts flew down the hallway and dropped the refugees armed with knives rushing forward. John had taken the other down – a pair of Traveler guards behind each watched their flank.

Sam remained silent and moved along the hallway carefully – the Travelers were stunning everyone – the Refugees had begun to spread around the city and there was no telling what kind of damage they could do.

Another group of refugees moved into the hallway armed with broken shards of wood. They saw John and Sam moving closer and were unwilling to try to take them on and fell back. Sam looked over to John and grimaced. "We need more people."

John nodded and tapped his headset. "Larrin, this is Sheppard."

_"What?!" _Sam heard over the earpiece – Larrin didn't sound anywhere near as understanding as she did earlier.

"We need reinforcements at the refugee tower, we're trying to get to Doctor Jackson."

"_I've got thirty men surrounding the area and almost a hundred trying to stop the refugees from getting too far out. Those marines of yours really screwed us over."_

Sam bit her lip and tapped her own headpiece. "Are the marines using live rounds?"

"_No thank the Ancestors, but we're trying to round up all the refugees __**and **__hunt down the last of the marines. This city is huge – it's chaos with all these refugees running around."_

Chuck's voice suddenly added to the chaos. _"Larrin, come up to the control room and I can use the city's sensors to guide your men. Colonels, it's a giant mass ahead of you but I can make out the Travelers on the catwalk above, the Marines are in a laager formation protecting Doctor Jackson and keeping the Travelers pinned down, recommend you flank and hit them from the same floor they're on."_

Sam didn't know whether to feel relief or anger, but she'd settle for just getting Daniel out of the meat grinder. "Copy that, we're moving in."

John spared her a quick glance, but then turned to follow.

* * *

Major Lorne saw his chance once more as Sheppard and Carter suddenly fired on him from the side entrance to the storeroom. Once more Major Lorne took the shot – and missed just barely.

Sheppard had ducked and fired back, knocking down the Marine next to Lorne and forcing a regrouping. With the Travelers up above, Sheppard and Carter below with another ten Travelers behind them, the Major knew his group was screwed – more or less how he'd planned deep in his mind. "Fall back! Fall back!"

Somehow Lorne got away from the melee intact – two Marines hadn't been so lucky and were stunned by volley fire from the Travelers. How could he have missed _twice_? It wouldn't have really made a difference, but he knew it would inspire his men to keep fighting and perhaps do something. Lorne knew he could seriously screw the Travelers over by sabotaging the main power system and warning Daedalus of what was going on, but he just couldn't. Lorne was stuck between a rock and a hard place and all he could do was keep them from crushing him entirely.

But that was the point wasn't it? Just show that he wasn't going to take this sitting down, give the IOA a reason to believe him when he'd stand before them and lie - say that the he indeed tried to save the Atlantis Expedition.

* * *

"_Daniel!"_

John rushed ahead along side Sam firing suppressive fire towards the marines who fled, but a group of refugees had taken cover and seemed terrified of everything happening. He looked to the Travelers behind him and waved forward. "Go! Make sure those refugees are safe and keep those marines from getting out!"

He thought about how Lorne had looked at him and shot without hesitation. Missing once was understandable; the shock of hearing John declare his renegade status must have been jarring. _Twice_ wasn't a coincidence.

Lorne was gone, and more stunner rounds flew past him from the opposite hallway. He was frozen in shock over what was happening and was about to say something when someone tackled him to the ground behind cover. _"John!_ Snap out of it!"

The two of them rolled on the ground behind a giant flower pot that denoted the entrance to the tower. John quickly realized that Sam was shaking him awake even as she lay on top of him and recovered. "He missed."

"What?"

"Lorne missed."

Sam shook her head and pulled John up. "Forget that for now, Daniel's over there! I need cover!"

John slammed back into reality and focused. "Right, Right…" He flicked his headset and spat out orders. "This is Sheppard to any Traveler Security in the Refugee sector, We've chased out the Marines in the storeroom – capture them and disarm them. We're going to recover Dr Jackson." No acknowledgement, but then again it wasn't as if they were under oath to follow his orders. John looked to Sam and nodded. "Ready?

"No, but let's go."

Taking one last deep breath, John swung out from cover and spotted Daniel on the ground near the railing above. There was a single marine with a white and red stripe along his armor –a Medic. John held his hand up as the Travelers caught up and yelled. "Hold fire! Cover the entrances!"

The Travelers did as they were told wordlessly and John watched as Sam approached. Now up close, he could see it was the same Medic who'd been with them on Queen Harmony's planet. He didn't look pleased to see John. "How is he?"

Sam moved in next and immediately crouched next to Daniel, The archeologist was barely conscious, his back bloody from the reopened knife wound, and his chest little more than a bruise. The Medic waved his hand and kept low. "Took a hell of a fall, but he'll live. Ribcage fractures and he's on the verge of shock, he'll be okay as long as we make sure there's no internal bleeding. I've dressed the wound on his back, and given him a painkiller." He turned to Sheppard. "This is a clusterfuck."

Daniel coughed and shook his head. "Least I didn't land on my head."

John couldn't decide to wince or laugh, so he waved him up. "Go. The Travelers'll lead you back to the infirmary. I'll watch out backs."

"Help me move him." John turned and saw Sam lean in under Daniel's left arm while the Medic went under the right.

They lifted him up to his feet. Daniel shrugged his head dazedly to Sam and mumbled. "_I love you, you know that?"_

"I know, I love you too." John kept quiet – Sam's voice was sincere but he could hear the near despair inside.

"I'm proud of you." Daniel muttered and coughed. He tried to walk on his own but it wasn't happening. John kept the corners clear as he listened to Daniel. "Don't let anyone tell you this is wrong."

John wished he could believe it, but the day wasn't over yet.

**Atlantis Infirmary**

Sam hefted Daniel onto the infirmary bed and watched as a tired Jennifer Keller scanned him using an ancient sensor. "Oh _god_, did you at least get the license plate of that truck?"

Daniel had seemingly recovered enough to regain some wit as he replied. "Actually, _I_ hit it instead of _it_ hitting _me _for once.."

Jennifer couldn't help it and snorted, her eyes had bags the size of golf balls but Daniel's constant positive outlook broke through it easily. Sam loved how Daniel had that ability. Keller said. "Well if that's the case, maybe you should get a mechanic instead." The caring smile was lost as Keller looked to Sam. Nobody had smiled at her since this whole thing began other than Daniel.

It hurt to see the Doctor do that, the city was getting used to the idea of the coup, but whenever people looked at her, she always saw resentment or disbelief. She only saw acceptance in Daniel's eyes.. even John looked at her with nothing more than sympathy.

Sam tried to think of what Daniel had said earlier, and just couldn't bring herself to believe it. She could only imagine what _Caldwell_ was going to think.

**Atlantis Control Room **

Chuck had brought up a pot of coffee to the control room. If he was going to go renegade, he was going to break some rules dammit! He pointed out on the map ahead of him the red and blue dots around Atlantis. "We've taken these corridors, and once that tower is cleared the core of the city will be in our control. The marines did some light damage to the transporters but nothing that's not fixable. Most of them have been driven out the piers or lower decks wher ewe can't track them."

Larrin pointed out to the piers "What about the piers? Those potheads try and attack our ships again?"

Chuck winced. "It's _jar_head, and no, most of them stopped using live rounds from what I can tell over the radio." He sighed softly and looked over at Larrin. "Infirmary's taking anyone who's hurt. Your docs are saying it's nothing they can't handle. No casualties yet but-"

"Save it." Larrin hissed. "I'll take the pity when I'm dead." She then pointed out two positions in particular on the outskirts of the city. "We need to take those labs. There's explosive material in there and those _jar_heads might get a bad idea."

Chuck gulped softly and asked. "How do you know that? I didn't even know those labs had that."

Larrin smirked and rubbed Chuck's shoulder. "We've been planning this for months Chucky. We know what's going on even if we don't know how to run it properly.."

"Really?" Chuck replied in a worried tone – did Sheppard know about this?

Larrin leaned down and whispered into his ear. "Don't worry, I'da kept you around for one thing or another."

Chuck merely kept quiet and tried to hide his shiver.

**Atlantis Control Room Balcony**

John watched out the balcony as the stars moved past. It wouldn't be too much longer for the strike force to return. Larrin stood next to him and sighed. John knew she was wondering how Daedalus and the Aurora were faring in taking out the Asuran Wolfpack.

The day was almost done – the fighting had died down and John had new titles to add to his name, Traitor, Scum, Rebel, one marine had called him Benedict Sheppard which drew an eyebrow raise. Despite all the grief, all the pain and sorrow, John knew he'd made the right decision. Sleep was still far away but at least he knew the hard part was over. He leaned towards Larrin. "I guess I should thank you."

"Oh? What for?"

It was plain to John that Larrin wanted to fight. And after such a hard day of shooting his friends and comrades, John wanted to fight too. "Maybe because you didn't just kill us all. I took a huge risk trusting you."

"I can still do that."

"But you won't." John said with conviction. Larrin had been an exotic form of professional to him over the months, but he knew enough about her that she was a person of her word.

Larrin remained quiet for some time before replying. "I hate you. You know that?"

John shrugged, he'd been getting used to being hated again. "Join the club; I hear they just got a whole bunch of new members."

"You know my people are scared." Larrin shook her head. "We might have control of the city but we can barely run it. Some of your technicians refused to help us,, Chuck's going crazy trying to teach everybody what's going on and Zelenka hasn't slept in two days."

"I'm not surprised, I'm guessing only a few people might want to help."

Before they could talk anymore, "This is Larrin, what's going on?"

"_Larrin, This is Tydus, the Lantean named Chuck says he's detecting Daedalus on the edge of the system. It's alone."_

Larrin narrowed her eyes – John could tell she wasn't happy. "And the Aurora?"

"_No sign of it, Daedalus will be in communications range in two minutes. Chuck says the ship looks shot to hell."_

John waved Larrin to follow him. "Come on, this isn't over."

Larrin followed as they walked to the control room. Sheppard wished sorely that Sam was around but he hadn't seen her ever since splitting up after rescuing Daniel. _"Shit, shit shit shit."_ He turned to Chuck. "How do I look?" his hands flew up to his face and quickly fingercombed. "We need Caldwell to land the ship. Ronon and the Traveler are ready to take Daedalus, but we _need _control of the ship. Everything here _has _to look normal."

Chuck looked at him with weary eye s and shook his head. "Uhh… shit. No disrespect but you look like hell, sir."" He moved over to where Amelia kept a few of her things at her workstation and found a small satchel. "Got it." he pulled out a little makeup kit and handed John a comb. "Better than nothing."

John winced but didn't refuse it. He opened a little clam thing that seemed to have powder that resembled skin tone. He dabbed at it with the brush including inside and began to work it on his face. He was making a mess of it from what he could see in the mirror. "Dammit…"

Larrin grumbled in annoyance and snatched the makeup from his hands. She began to undo the mess he'd made. "Stay still, you'll look fine for your date with baldy."

Chuck snorted softly and then looked apologetically to John. "Uh, sorry sir."

John just sighed and accepted Larrin's help. The smiles from the Travelers in the room helped _nothing. _"The things I do for this city." The Travelers around laughed as John groaned softly and relented to Larrin dolling him up. They really cracked up when Larrin licked her thumb and rubbed a particularly bad piece of gunk on his face off like a mom to a five year old.

John pulled back a bit and resisted half-assedly, but seeing that Daedalus was just about to enter communications range relented. "Done?"

Larrin snorted and used her thumbs to wipe underneath his eyes as she finished. "Alright, at leats you don't look like spaced wraith _cacare_."

John walked over to the camera and focused it on him alone – Caldwell would be expecting more than just Travelers in the control room, maybe even Carter. John would have to deal with it. "Alright, I'm ready."

Chuck waited for a few moments and then tapped on the console. "Channel open, go ahead."

Caldwell appeared on the screen ahead of John – he didn't look pleased. "Colonel Caldwell, everything alright? Where's the Traveler Aurora?"

"No everything is _not_ alright." Caldwell snapped back. John was surprised at the hostility. "We've managed to steal three ZPMs but my ship is barely holding together and we've lost the Traveler Aurora."

"_What?" _John didn't havetime to react as Larrin shoved him aside and yelled. "What happened? What about the crew?"

Caldwell rubbed his forehead with his right hand – Sheppard could see he was very disturbed. "The mission was going smoothly until we were attacked by the Wraith Superhive. That thing took out the Traveler Aurora, wrecked us, and from the last sensor reading we had another six Asuran Auroras fell fighting it. All that and we barely managed to disable their hyperdrive. We did manage to get most of the crew off your Aurora before it blew up. Only reason we're still here is we hooked up the ZPMs to the ship." He looked around the bridge and sighed. "This ship isn't going to hold together as is though. We need heavy repairs and are coming in to dock. Where's Colonel Carter?"

John couldn't say anything. _Seven Auroras? ZPM Daedalus couldn't stop it?_ "Uhh, guh-"

"Uh sir…" Chuck said as he focused the camera on him. John was still in shock but he heard Larrin cursing a blue streak as she stormed off. He didn't dare follow her. "Colonel Carter is currently indisposed with Mr. Woolsey-"

"Dock right away Colonel." John interrupted. He _had _to focus. "I'm guessing the Wraith are right behind you. I'll get Colonel Carter and meet up with you once you set down."

"Agreed, these three ZPMs will come in very handy I think. We'll be on the pad in ten. Out."

The screen shut off and John could hear the Travelers murmuring behind him. _Seven Auroras, Daedalus… _ "God_dammit._"

**Daedalus, Bridge**

**Landing on open Pier**

The speed at which it happened shocked Marks. He had just finished landing the Daedalus and no sooner than the engines shut off, he turned and was looking down the barrel of five Particle Magnums from around the room. Ronon was at the head of the sudden assailants who quickly surrounded the bridge crew. Caldwell remained silent but not submissive as Ronon spoke. "Nice and easy. Come quietly, we're not gonna hut you."

Caldwell snorted and remained in his seat. Marks had to give him credit for standing his ground. "So this is what Sheppard had planned. Woolsey mentioned he might try something, all assuming you didn't join the Travelers on your own."

Ronon kept the weapon pointed at Caldwell and narrowed his eyes. "Sheppard. You know why we're doing this."

Marks thought about it, he wasn't exactly in a position to do much, but at least he understood what was going on. They were taking control of Daedalus and the three ZPMs to keep Atlantis safe and the Refugees in the city. He hadn't really made it a part of his mission, but now it was overwhelming.

Caldwell thought for a few moments and then nodded. "I do actually, and that's why I'm telling the crew to stand down." He carefully tapped a few buttons and the com lines opened. "This is Colonel Caldwell. As I'm sure most of you are aware now, the Travelers have decided that they know what to do better than we do. We're outnumbered and outgunned so stand down and do what they say. I don't think we're in any risk."

Ronon moved closer and motioned to both Caldwell and Marks. "Come on, No sudden moves."

Marks held his hands up and looked to the console. Caldwell may have given up easily because the odds were against them, but he'd also locked out everyone but he and the Caldwell himself with a panic button.

**Atlantis Control Room**

Sam walked into the control room with a pair of Traveler Guards. She had wanted to tell them to piss off but after having Keller chase her out of the Infirmary, there wasn't much else she could do.

Daedalus had landed almost an hour ago and Sam knew she had to take control of the situation. As much as she wanted to sit by Daniel and give him her support, she was needed here. The Travelers in the area were each on consoles, each trying to work out how to run the city efficiently. She noted a few still relaying orders to security personnel to track down the remaining loose Marines and Refugees. "Chuck, has Doctor Zelenka hooked up the ZPMs yet?"

"Yeah, the ZPM's were mostly charged. That gives us one extra just in case." He motioned over to the screen. "There's a problem though. We're getting hyperspace contacts all over around the system. None of them are within range, but it's not hard to guess who they are,"

Sam nodded and sighed. "The Wraith. They're digging in for a siege." A moment to think, and Sam could only see one course of action. "Tell Zelenka to prepare to submerge the city - Wraith weapons don't have enough power to reach us if we're under. Don't do it unless they move within weapons range – we might need to take off and being underwater is only going to give then an advantage."

She'd heard about the Traveler Aurora. She'd even seen Larrin taking more than a moment to herself. The Traveler leader now stood in the back of the control room coordinating what little she could in the chaos. She perked up – Sam could swear she'd been crying. "The city can do that?"

"Yeah… it's how the Ancients saved the city from the Wraith ten thousand years ago." Sam realized that she'd need more than a moment alone as well. Despite the chaos in the city – a strange calm had come as the twilight passed overhead. She hadn't slept in almost a full day and the exhaustion was starting to get to her. She powered through it. "We're pretty much in the same situation they were at the end of the war."

"Not exactly encouraging." Larrin replied. Most of the passion Sam had heard in her voice was gone – Sam understood that this wasn't easy for her either, or any of the Traveler leaders. "Since we have everything we need, I think it's time you let your leaders and people know what we're planning. At least we can relieve that weight off our shoulders."

Larrin scoffed derisively. "Yeah, _thanks." _

Sam ignored the hostility and just rubbed her forehead. "I'm gonna be in my office. I've got a lot to sort out and I'd like to do it alone."

"Whatever." Larrin looked to Chuck as Sam turned around. Sam heard her icy words as she walked across the balcony. "You know how to do that stuff she said? Good, do it."

**Atlantis Brig**

John took a deep breath. He hadn't listened to many of the captured Marines, but this was different. Caldwell and Marks were high ranking officers. He _needed _them to understand even if only for his guilt. He entered the brig where Caldwell and Marks stood inside an energy barrier.. He wanted to go to every high ranked soldier – explain his actions.

Both men stared back at him, Caldwell muttered. "So the man himself arrives. Sheppard, King of Atlantis?"

John palmed his forehead. "Great, and I thought Benedict Sheppard was bad."

"The name fits." Caldwell replied. "Now either let us go or get the hell out."

John sighed and shook his head. "Sorry. I really am. You guys hungry, need the bathroom or-"

"Cut the bullshit Sheppard." Caldwell snapped. "Paint it anyway helps you sleep, but you're a traitor. You can't expect me to overlook everything you've done."

John leaned back against the wall on the outside of the brig. He used the thumb side of his fist to pound gently on his forehead. "Jesus Caldwell, you think I _like_ having to do this?"

"Don't think I'm stupid Sheppard." Caldwell hissed. "I know _exactly _why you're doing this. Woolsey suspected you might pull something like go AWOL but I don't think anyone expected you to lead a coup. I just wish you'd found another way."

John hung his head in shame, Caldwell was saying _everything _that tore at his heart and mind. "I know, and I _did_ try. Goddamn we tried everything. The IOA forced us. Goddamnit guys, do you have any idea what they ordered us to do?"

"Hide the city." Caldwell replied. "Which you should be doing anyway as that Superhive is on its way."

"Already being done." John said. "We'll be underwater in less than thirty minutes" John sighed as he looked up to the men. "That's not all they ordered. There's something you need to know."

"Oh really? So there's more than defying orders and betraying Earth, all while taking two precious resources used to defend the planet?"

John fought his groan, Caldwell was _not _making this easy for him. "You remember last year? When my team and I got the city back from the Asurans?" Both men nodded. "The IOA figured they'd do the same once you got back. Woolsey told Colonel Carter that the IOA was going to take the ZPM's you brought back to Earth and leave only one here. They wanted to kick the refugees out and take the city to some uncharted planet and hide. They were going to abandon anyone who wasn't crucial to the expedition."

"What?" Marks asked. John could see the genuine shock and horror in his eyes. He turned to Caldwell. "Colonel, that can't be true."

Caldwell narrowed his eyes and gave Marks a _'be quiet'_ look. The Major acquiesced and rubbed his mouth in contemplation. Caldwell replied softly. "That's not my problem Sheppard. I don't agree with that order but I understand it. The IOA and Air Force _have _to look to Earth's defenses first. Atlantis is both a defense, _and _a threat as long as the Asurans and Wriath are after it."

"That's where you're wrong Caldwell." John rose to his full height, now unafraid or ashamed of what he'd done. Marks' reaction was _exactly _what he needed to see in a seasoned soldier. "After Asuras, Dr Zelenka found a kind of engine the city has that makes a 304 on ZPMs look like a slug. It's called a Wormhole Drive and we're going to use it to get away from the Wraith and the Replicators."

"So what? You did all this just to go home to a prison cell? You…" Caldwell froze, suddenly understanding what Sheppard's remorseful eyes said with wide open ones of his own. "Holy shit. You're not heading back to the Milky Way, are you?"

John shook his head. "Woolsey was pretty clear that only the city and any technology the Travelers had was welcome. The people weren't going to be welcome _anywhere_ and would have been quarantined, or worse."

Caldwell growled softly and shook his head. John watched as Marks silently receded into himself – seemingly wrapping his head around the events. "I believe you, Sheppard. I know the IOA has problems, but kidnapping us all isn't exactly inspring."

"Don't worry." John reassured them. "You'll see the walls of the SGC again. Two days tops."

"You're actually going to send us back?" Caldwell asked. "You know you'll be outed and the IOA will send reinforcements to take the city back."

"They won't find us." John replied decisively. "I'm telling you two right now, we're going to send anyone back who wants to go back. Anyone who wants to stay is welcome." John sighed and looked away again. "Honestly? I want to send you back on Daedalus, but the state its in takes that out of the equation. I know Earth needs defenses, so that's why I'm sending a ZPM along with you back to Earth."

"Really?" Marks asked – Caldwell had quieted and let the Major speak.

John replied firmly. "Yes."

Everyone was quiet now. Telling these two men the plan had been a relief for John – now all he wanted was to go to sleep. He still had things to do though, he wanted to see everyone he cared about – make sure they were okay.

**Atlantis, Sam's Office**

Sam took a very deep breath before she tapped the control on her video uplink. Asking Chuck to dial Earth was risky, but Sam had convinced the Travelers that if they sent a status update as per the norm, the SGC would take longer to figure out what was going on. The blinds were drawn and everyone knew not to bother her. She'd been cooped up in here for a while now, still distraught over the events of the last day and a half. Sleep wouldn't come until she'd cemented her decision.

So many people were hurt, some critically, but some deity had smiled on them and nobody had died on Atlantis…yet. The loss of the Traveler Aurora was a heavy weight on the Traveler leadership, with Larrin in particular. Sam couldn't help but keep the numbers in her head – seven loston the Asuran Auroras, three hundred and twenty seven wounded on Atlantis, seventy three lost on their own Aurora. Sam burned those numbers into her head – she needed to weigh it against the seven thousand total left in Atlantis.

Constant arguments and fighting over the past day and a half had taken its toll, and despite feeling lonely and needing company, with Daniel in the infirmary, Sam just couldn't ask anyone on her side, not even John for such a thing. Sam needed to deal with this _her _way, and she needed to sever the ties that still bound her to the pain of her decision.

The whole infirmary staff along with the Traveler medics were pulling graveyard shifts, but each was willing and able thank god. That didn't do much to help Sam's clarity and conscious though. She'd made her choice and now she had to stick by it through hell or high water, both literally in this case. It was so different, being forced to make such a clear and concise decision where the options were so personal. It had been hell for weeks, knowing this whole coup was going to take place, and simply not knowing how to achieve the same goals without having to resort to such drastic and final measures.

So now that the wormhole was open, the bits of her and the city's reports flowing through – communications were opened. The secure line she had in her office would be private, at least for a few days until the IOA Security loggers went over it. If all went well it would be far too late to do anything, not that they really could at this point.

The video blinked on and Sam saw General O'Neill on the other end. It was afternoon on Earth in Washington. "Carter? What's wrong? Why are you using the secure uplink?"

Sam smiled – she wanted to cherish this no matter waht. "The Wraith are here, we're under siege."

O'Neill straightened and growled. "_For cryin' out loud, Carter, what the hell are you doing calling then?"_

"Because I'm not coming back… Jack."

Jack opened his mouth to reply but stopped suddenly. Sam hardly ever used his given name, it just didn't feel professional. Then again, she'd just participated in a coup. It took a few seconds for Jack to think it over, and coming to a conclusion, he seemed to recede just a bit. "Captain goes down with the ship?"

Sam kept the smile, she could see that Jack understood it was a smile she hid behind. "No. Well, sort of." She shrugged indecisively. "More like the Captain goes wherever the ship goes…"

"Wherever the ship goes?" Jack furrowed his brow. Sam could see it finally click in his head. "You're uhh, you're serious huh?"

"Yeah, and uhh, I just wanted to uhh, I guess I just-" Sam couldn't finish it. How could she say goodbye to Jack like this?

"Yeah, uhh. I guess I should uhh, I'm-"

"Jack." Sam had a very particular reason for opening this video link – an answer she wouldn't be able to live without. "Before I… I just want to know why."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I think that's my line."

"_No_. No more _games_, no more _assumptions_, I want to know why Jack."

Jack took a few moments befor e replying softly. "You know why."

"_No!" _Sam raised her voice. "No, I _don't_ know. I'm sick and tired of _conjecture_. I'm sick and tired of '_I know'_ _Goddamnit__ Jack_." A sharp deep breath, and Sam could feel her eyes moistening. "_Why didn't we ever try_?"

Jack shifted uncomfortably, but Sam _needed _to know. "I wasn't sure what you wanted."

"_I wanted-"_ It came out suddenly, and Sam realized she didn't really have a good answer to that question. She could feel a tear begin to form in her eyes. She blinked it away and tried to speak "I…"

Jack nodded. "Yeah…" He sighed and rubbed the side of his face.

Sam couldn't leave it there, so she asked the hard questions. "Why didn't you retire?"

"Why didn't you stay at Area 51?" Jack retorted.

Sam didn't have an answer. At least not a good one. "I guess we're both at fault."

"Yeah, we are."

The silence between them was heart wrenching, 12 years and they still couldn't talk about what was between them. The closest either ever came was locked in a room with Teal'c and a Za'tarc detector, and it never left that room more than a peek for all they tried. Jack finally recovered from the shock and spoke. "So, any clue as to where you're going?"

"Umm, we've got a few options. Can't say specifically yet." She wondered exactly that herself. Was Zelenka serious that the only place they could go to with confidence was five hundred million light years away? "No other choice though. It's all or nothing." She smiled ruefully again. "Just like us I guess."

"Yeah."

Sam got back to what she wanted to know, everything else was reasonable. "I, I know why I didn't stay at Area 51. I think you do too." Sam gulped as she closed her eyes. "I know you know why, but why didn't you retire? Really."

Jack took another moment to control himself, and then answered confidently. "I could never tie you down." Sam bit the inside of her lips – he was being brutally honest. "I couldn't ask you to stop. You love what you do."

"_I would have_... " Sam admitted. "You know I would have." She wanted to believe it, that all the times she'd moved or been busy was because of her career – she wanted to believe she could accept something personal over her professional life.

"I know you would have." Jack said. "I never lied to you Carter. I _want_ you to be happy." Jack took a deep and slightly shaky breath. "Sam, how many times did I have to pry your fingers off some doohickey and order you to go home? What happened every time we tried to get away from it all?" Jack sighed and shook his head. "You honestly think we could have? I've _been _through that Sam." Jack rubbed his forehead. "I'd never want to put you in that situation."

Sam bit her lip as she understood what he meant. He'd been married and doing what he did cost him so much. She thought about John and how his own military career had cost him his wife, and a life with his family. Still Sam wanted to be clear. "We could have tried, at least we'd know for sure."

"You're right, we could have, _we should have._ But we didn't, and you and I both know why." Jack's voice softened, but at the same time, Sam could hear the fire in his voice. "We're soldiers. We get the job done, _no matter what_."

Sam couldn't help but think of John's announcement on the PA. How proud she was to hear her friend speak so confidently about his actions. If only she didn't know it was tearing him and everyone she cared about apart. "Yeah, yeah we do." She could say more, but at this point, she just wanted closure. "Do you regret it?"

"No." Jack said with ease. "Regrets suck, Carter. Don't give them an inch. I'll miss you a hell of a lot more than I want to admit, and the fact that you're probably taking Daniel makes me just a little peeved, but no, I don't regret it."

"Sorry Sir, he uh…" Sam tried to think of how to explain it, but figured Jack knew already. Sam chuckled, and knew Daniel was under the tender care of Dr Keller and her medical staff. It wasn't right to worry Jack when there was nothing he could do about it. "I'll miss you too. I wish things could have been different."

"Me too, but someone's gonna have to keep the IOA from screwing this planet up anymore than they already have." Jack smiled. Sam took some solace in his genuine care. "And I've still got to find a way to convince Hayes to put me in charge of the Task Force to find you guys."

"Good luck finding us. Hell even _I _don't even know where we're going."

"Well, I'm still your superior officer. I distinctly recall ordering you to get a life on multiple occasions Carter, that order still stands."

Sam lost her smile as she looked at Jack, he'd grown serious. "What?"

"You heard me Carter, No matter what happens, you get a life and you make the best of it. Am I clear?"

Now Sam didn't know what to say. _What was Jack telling her?_ "Sir?"

Jack leaned forward and his features hardened. "No more _'Sir'_. If I've understood you correctly, and I know I have, you don't get to call me 'sir' anymore." Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So as my last order to you, you don't regret a damned thing. Am I Clear?"

Sam sniffled and whispered. "_Jack?"_

"_Am I clear.?"_

Jack's way of telling her to let go was about as harsh as she could accept. He really did know how she thought. "_Yes._"

"Good…" Jack looked straight at Sam. "Take care of yourself, Samantha."

"I'll never forget you Jack."

A smirk crossed Jack's face, and the glistening look in his eyes told Sam everything they could never say. "I'll keep a cake in the fridge just in case."

"Ha, I uhh, I appreciate that." Sam knew this was it. There was nothing more to say except… "Goodbye Jack." She pressed her hand on the screen, wanting to show just how much she really would miss him.

Jack nodded and put his own hand on his screen. "Goodbye."

The video link finally ended, and the wormhole to Earth ceased. Sam had done what she had to do, and when the Wraith arrived, no matter what happened Sam knew she had everything in order. It still didn't help though, as Sam fought to keep the tears inside, and for the first time in years, failed to do so.

* * *

John staggered into the control room. His feet felt so heavy from being awake and fighting. Having to corral his friends, _his comrades._ John knew there was probably going to be a special place in hell for him after today. The control room was almost empty now. Larrin's Traveler Engineers would take over tomorrow when the shit had been peeled off the fan. As it stood., only Chuck and a few tired Traveler Guards remained.

Chuck turned and gave John a haggard expression and an almost comedic salute. "Sir."

John groaned at the action. "_God sakes. _Don't call me that, Chuck. Just gives me the creeps now."

Chuck laughed and shook his head. He tugged on his hair and yawned.. "Good point. So, Sheppard?"

John put a hand on Chuck's shoulder. He was now one of his only trusted friends, one who'd agreed to betray everything they'd sworn to uphold. "My name's John. You're welcome to use it."

"John. _Wow,_ feels so different without Colonel to it."

John nodded and looked around – he noticed that while the place was more or less empty, there seemed to be a strange air in the place. "Yeah well, John or Sheppard, either one's fine." He squeezed Chuck's shoulder a few times in thanks, grateful that he'd supported him so readily. "Where's Carter? Haven't seen her since-" A moment to swallow the event. "-since we got split up."

Chuck yawned again and motioned to her office. "In there. We opened a secure uplink back to the SGC and faked a status report. I didn't ask what it was for."

John knew Sam hadn't tried to warn them of what had happened. She'd made her choice. The entire time Woolsey had threatened to take John away she knew, Sam had stood there knowing for a fact that this was going to happen. "Yeah, how long ago was that?"

"Bout an hour, I've been coordinating with Ronon's team to find stragglers. Still a few out there but they're laying low, don't think they'll try and sabotage anything with those Wraith up there."

Groaning, John knew damn well that the Wraith were waiting for that Superhive. It still rang in his head – _Seven Auroras and ZPMed Daedalus…_ The ZPMs were the only reason Daedalus had been able to limp back, which wasn't enough for the Traveler Aurora. "Yeah…" He looked over to Sam's office and knew he shouldn't go in there. Most likely she was still struggling to come to grips with the situation and needed time alone. They just didn't have any time left to spare. "I'm gonna see how Sam's doing, keep everyone out would ya?"

"Yeah, sure thing. Larrin's coming by with someone to take over for me in a bit so I'll tell em the same if you take that long."

John nodded idly, and stepped across the bridge to Sam's office. Would it even still be considered _hers?_ They hadn't worked out how anything was going to transition. If this Wormhole Drive worked they'd be god knows how many millions of light years away in a completely foreign galaxy. John had really lived up to Sam's image of him he realized, he was a goddamned impulsive hero.

At least he would be… as long as this Wormhole Drive didn't shred them to bare atoms. "Sam?" he opened the door, and noted that the lights were turned down.

Sam sat on her couch with her hands covering her head, her body turned away from the door. She was hunched over, plainly not in any good mood. _"Go away." _Her voice was harsh even as her hands muffled it. John felt anguish just looking at her.

John closed the door behind him. "Sam…" He stopped. John wanted to say _'are you okay?'_ but knew better than to ask such a stupid question. "…Hey."

She was crying – it was soft and muted, but John could see the red on her cheeks and hear her sniffling. "_Get out."_

John couldn't take seeing her like this. He slowly sat down next to Sam and put an arm around her. She flinched but didn't pull away. "Come on, you need at least some sleep."

Sam's tone remained strong, but wavered as her voice cracked. _"Just leave me alone."_

"Sam, I don't want to leave you alone like this. But if you really want me to leave, I'll go."

When she didn't reply, John took her non-response as an answer; John gently pulled her closer on the sofa and put both arms around her. Sam refused to face him, turning her head down and away as she rubbed her face.

John kept his voice soft, mimicking words he'd been telling himself for ages. "_Sam…_ I know you'll be okay on your own, you got nothing to prove to me. If you start burying this it's not gonna stop." Sam didn't reply, she just made soft noises of sorrow. "You need to cry? _You do it_. You don't want anyone to know? _Classified." _John squeezed her a little tighter and whispered. "You don't want to tell me a damn thing? Good! Because I'm not gonna be your Kleenex." IShe shifted as he spoke – evidently he was getting to her. "But I'm not going to let you simmer and buckle under this shit. I'd have given up if you didn't help me._ Let me help you, _we need you. _I need you._" Sam moved her head enough to make eye to eye contact. John whispered. "_…I need you Sam, and I'll have your back no matter what."_

Sam quietly sniffled, and then to John's surprise wrapped her own arms around him. She buried her face in his neck and he bowed his own to nuzzle against her head. She was still crying, and it was disturbing to see Sam like this. John was having trouble controlling his own emotions – but he needed to be strong for Sam right now. He couldn't take the time to deal with his own issues while Sam was at her breaking point.

It was another minute before Sam calmed. John wiped the hair out from in front of her face. "I'll walk you to your quarters."

A soft nod, and Sam wiped her face again with her hands. She looked around and tried to clean up her face. John could see that Sam was trying desperately to recover her dignity, and John understood why. He could see Sam was utterly frustrated, so he gave her a way out. He tapped his headset. "Chuck, this is Sheppard, you still out there?"

A few moments passed, and Chuck's voice came in softly. _"Yeah."_

Sam looked up at John confused. "_What are…?"_

John shook his head to her in a silent move asking for silence. Sam turned away again and tried to recompose herself. "Chuck, I need a favor, can you clear the control room and the hallway to the nearest transporter for the next five minutes?"

_"Uh… Sir?"_

John winced realizing that it'd be awhile for Chuck to learn to call him John. "Just do it Chuck, I'll owe you one."

"Uh yeah, yeah Larrin not here yet so uh, just give me a few minutes."

John remained on the couch with Sam silently breathing into his chest. John couldn't help but remember how he'd felt on Proculus, and how her support had kept him from losing control. Even Chaya hadn't been able to help – she'd been too saddened by everything going on in the galaxy to bear seeing him in that condition.

John tugged Sam up to her feet and kept her close as she continued to breath deep controlling breaths. She'd stopped crying and what barely passed for sobs had ended as well. To someone who didn't know her, they'd say she just had a little moment.

But John knew he'd been witness to something so shockingly personal and emotional that he didn't think Sam would ever tell him what had driven her to this, at least not for a long time. He hated to admit it, but Sam was so much stronger than he was in some ways that whatever had done this to her, it scared John. "You ready?"

Another silent nod, and John let go of the hug keeping one arm around her shoulders. He peeked through the blinds and watched as Chuck led the Travelers out and towards the nearest supply room – probably a coffee run. The control room was empty after a moment, and the hallway behind that led to the nearest transporter was as well. John thanked God that Chuck was such an understanding man, he could only pray that it wasn't a pointless gesture when they finally raised the city again.

Sam remained quiet the whole way as they walked through the city. John could see that she was looking at the hallways, probably looking for people who weren't going to be roaming anymore, people she'd led and come to trust with her life. John felt _exactly _the same.

It was so unfair. John never imagined he'd have to sacrifice his loyalty to the Air Force, or even Earth to do what he felt was right. And even more, he knew Sam probably felt ten times worse, but he'd judged her correctly, and she was unwilling to abandon these people even though she was given the chance.

A few minutes passed before reaching her quarters. John waited for her to open the door before he spoke. "Get some sleep, we both need it."

Sam took a step in, and then hesitated as she bowed her head. She turned quickly and spoke softly. "Wait."

John had already turned to go to his own quarters, looking back, he could see that Sam really wanted to say something but just couldn't find the words. "Yeah?"

Sam sighed and mumbled, "I- I can't sleep. Not now." It wasn't a plea to be heard, it was simply stating a fact. John listened carefully. "I'm going to the infirmary." A part of John wanted to be ignorant and ask whether she was okay, but he knew that physical illness wasn't what was compelling her.

Seeing that she was asking for company, John himself realized that he'd been neglecting his own family to save the lives of strangers. Sleep would have to wait. "Heading that way myself."

Sam nodded softly as she held up a hand. "Just give me a minute."

John nodded as he leaned on the wall and waited. Sam entered her room and took a few moments to clean herself up. John wondered who else in this city would realize just how close she'd come to breaking.

**Atlantis Infirmary**

"Sam…?"

Sam squeezed Daniel's hand softly and nodded. John had walked her down and went to see Teyla as she'd sat down with Daniel. Most of the chaos had abated – a few Travelers were still in critical condition but their medicine in combination with Atlantis' earth based treatments worked well and still nobody had died. Sam considered it a miracle given the circumstances. "Yeah, yeah it's me."

Around them, the Travelers learned what they could of Atlantis' medical equipment. Doctor Keller had passed out on a couch – a blanket draped over her as she caught at least a bit of sleep. Sam envied her right now – which given the Doctor's condition, spoke a lot about her own state.

Daniel groaned softly as he tried to sit up. Sam quickly put a hand on this uninjured shoulder and pinned him to the bed. "Oh no, I'm _so _not in the mood to lecture you. _Don't _test me."

Daniel relented and laid back. "And I _wanted_ you to come see me?"

Sam chuckled softly and sighed. "Oh _lord_." She sniffled once and squeezed Daniel's shoulder supportively. "Daniel…" She fought the tears, looking into his face just reminded her of everything on Earth. "What have I done Daniel? _My god…_ what have I _done?"_

Daniel smiled and took her hand in his. She bowed her head and breathed deeply. Daniel spoke reassuringly. "You did the only thing you could do." He squeezed her hand, Sam could sense he was holding back a cough at the pain in his chest. "The right thing."

Sam had to accept it, she wondered how long it would take.

* * *

John sat with Teyla, who had recovered mostly from the premature birth. Her child lay silently in front of them in an incubator. They'd moved her out of isolation and a private room alongside her child was exactly what John wanted for her right now – at least someone was giving it to her in his absence. She sat in a chair rather than in a bed which was definitely a sign of improvement.

Teyla smiled and held John's hand. "He's perfect."

John nodded and kept one hand on Teyla's shoulder as she squeezed his other. Despite recovering, she still had IV's connected to her which told John she had suffered more than just the stress of birth. "That he is."

Teyla turned to John and smiled sincerely. John missed seeing her smile like that. "Thank you John, I am so sorry I could not assist you with your plan."

"Shh shh…" John said. "It's okay Teyla. You had to be here." He leaned forward and put a hand on the glass of the incubator – it was warm. He wondered what the kid was dreaming about as he slept fitfully. He hoped nothing as dark as the air that had befallen the city. "This little guy needed you." They didn't say anything, simply basking in the silence of such a serene moment. John finally asked. "You got a name yet?"

Inside the chamber, the baby stirred softly and curled his little toes. Teyla sighed contentedly and stared at her baby. John could see how the baby sparked a hope in Teyla's eyes – nothing like he'd see in her days ago when learning of the death of her people. The newest member of her family had restored something to her. Teyla replied. "I, I haven't decided yet. Not fully."

"Fully?"

Teyla nodded and looked to John. "I was going to call him Torren, after my father. but I wished to give him another name as well, something symbolic."

John could think of a few, but kept his mind to himself. "Guess you've got a hard decision ahead of you."

"I was thinking Rodney."

John held back a sob – he'd tell Teyla of what happened to Rodney, but not yet. She needed to focus on the here and now. "He would have liked that." John thought hard about what he knew. Only Sam understood fully what he'd been through and it would be a secret for some time. He hoped he wouldn't have to take it to his grave. "Teyla, I think that's a great name. Torren Rodney Emmagen."

Teyla smiled and reached out to the glass. "Torren Rodney Emmagen." Teyla sighed "He'll have quite a name to live up to."

John turned to look at Teyla, and was surprised at the tear flowing down her face. "Hey," He put his arm around Teyla and hugged her. So many times Teyla had been there for him that it felt criminal to not have been here for her for this. "Look, I'm sorry I haven't been around much. I-"

"It's okay John." Teyla replied. She shook her head and hugged John back. "You have been fighting for us all, Torren Rodney included." She let go of John, and her face creased in worry. "You're exhausted John. Go rest. Do not worry about me until this city is safe. That is your task and I trust you to it."

John wanted to argue, but his heavy eyelids and sore body agreed with her. He added as he got up. "If you need anything-"

"I have everything I need John." She took John's hand again and kissed it. John felt his cheeks blush at the gesture. "Perhaps not everything I wanted, but you have given me the time for that. There is no greater gift you could have given me."

Teyla's sincerity had lifted his spirits. John couldn't help himself and took Teyla's cheeks in his hands as he knelt in front of her. He gently pressed his forehead to hers, and once again remained silent when his soul screamed at him. He silently got up and walked out into the main infirmary.

**Atlantis, Abandoned Corridor**

**Sublevels**

Lorne sat on the floor of the hallway and knew that there was no escape. Not that he really wanted to but it just felt like a noose closing in on him.

He'd fired on his commanding officer. Granted it was just a stunner like he ordered all his men to do, but he still looked John in the eyes and took the shot. Maybe he'd missed on purpose, but the act was still-

No. Lorne had to face the truth; he'd missed on purpose _twice._ _Twice _he had that chance and twice his shot was just a little to the left. Lorne just couldn't do it, he couldn't abandon Earth. His duty was to the Air Force and to Earth, and sadly the IOA was a part of that. He desperately wanted that to change, but now it didn't matter much anymore. The raid on the refugee centre had accomplished what he wanted, but when Daedalus touched down there were no reinforcements, at least not for him. He hadn't exactly done his job to the best of his ability.

Lorne heard heavy footfalls coming from ahead, and he knew instantly it was Ronon. His good friend Ronon, come to hunt him down. Lorne looked up and watched as Ronon neared him. The Satedan didn't have his weapon pointed at him, but he didn't look exactly friendly. Lorne kept his voice calm as he spoke. "Hey."

Ronon nodded back and stood a few feet away from him. "Hey."

Lorne smacked his lips knowing what was coming. "Any casualties?"

"Nothing here. We lost a few on Daedalus." Ronon didn't sound angry, he didn't even sound disappointed. He was just 'Ronon.' Lorne appreciated that.

"I wanted to help, you know?" Lorne said. He looked up at Ronon who looked down at him in sympathy. "I-I don't want to see these people hurt."

"I know."

Lorne took a deep breath and pushed himself off the ground. He kept his hands in a surrender position. "Tell Sheppard and Carter I'm sorry. I'll do everything I can for them back home."

"Will do." Ronon replied.

Lorne breathed in and held it while he closed his eyes. He never liked getting stunned but he'd gotten used to it. It was a common unpleasant fact living in Pegasus. Lorne was a bit surprised when Ronon scoffed. "You've got legs. Come on. Caldwell's gonna need a new right hand man."

Lorne kept his hands out to the side now as Ronon's prisoner. It took him a moment to register what Ronon had said. "Wait, Marks? _Really?_"

"Yeah… Says he won't let Asuras be for nothing."

Lorne sighed softly realizing that this whole situation was forcing people to have to make a final choice, and he only prayed to God that he'd made the right one for him.

**Atlantis, Infirmary**

'Hey, John."

John shook his head idly at the scene before him. Sam had passed out on her chair, her cocked to the side next to Daniel's bed. Daniel for that matter didn't look like he minded – nor even in any serious pain. John sighed quietly asked. "Does she ever use her bed?"

Daniel shrugged and winced - John saw that he was just hiding his pain. "I'm just as bad, can't tell you the times Jack and Dr. Frasier had to drag us to bed."

"You okay?"

Daniel nodded. "Not my first party. I'll heal." he looked down to Sam and gave her sleeping form a caring face. "She's really broken up, I haven't seen her like this ever."

John sighed again – _Yeah and it's my fault_. "She saved me. IOA was gonna drag me back, hell they were even planning on taking the ZPMs Caldwell brought back to Earth, just leave Atlantis to rot."

"Well look at it this way. All the IOA cares about is Earth, nothing else." John gone over it in his head – he knew exactly that Daniel was saying and worse, he understood it. "Atlantis and all these people are expendable because they're _not_ Earth."

John rubbed his face and resisted a hard yawn. "I guess I didn't want to admit it had gotten so bad. You can't believe how much I wish things were different."

There wasn't much else to talk about, and Daniel took the few moments of silence to try and breath properly. John simply wiped his eyes – all he wanted was sleep.

"Do me a favor?" Daniel asked. John looked at Daniel who seemed sympathetic to his exhaustion. "Take her to her quarters. She needs actual sleep, you both do." He sighed and looked at Sam on the chair. "Might have to carry her."

John groaned softly, but realized he was right. He reached down to Sam's shoulder when she suddenly started and batted him away. _"Mmmrrmmm… touch me and die."_

Daniel didn't hide his amusement and chuckled. "Well since I'm sure Sheppard wants to live, how about you just go back to your quarters?"

Sam groaned as she lightly smacked at Daniel's knee, then waved off any efforts from John to help her up. "I'm fine, I'm _fine_ John. Just…" Sam sighed and rubbed her face awake – John couldn't understand why Sam was putting herself through all this when she could have resisted. All she had to do was disagree and go back to Earth. Yet here she was, rebelling right alongside him. "Travelers doing alright?"

John nodded as he watched Sam get up and flex her tired shoulders. "Just checked in with Zelenka. The Travelers won't ruin the city, so we can take a break."

"Good." Sam said, and then turned back to Daneil."Get better, I have no doubt I'll need you before this is over.."

"And you need to get to bed. Go, I've got the call button that just ups my morphine so I'll be _just fine._"

Sam snorted and John felt just a little better. It was miles above how he'd found her in her office merely thirty minutes ago. . "Come on, I'll walk you back."

They began to leave the infirmary and Sam snapped back. "I'm quite capable of finding my own quarters, even if I am exhausted."

"Humor me"

Sam sighed, John could tell she was just too tired to argue. They kept quiet most of the way, and only as they exited the Transporter in the hallway where Sam's room was did John finally begin to talk. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

He shot a sidelong glance to her as they walked. "You don't have to stay."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Here." He motioned to the city itself. "I know this is hard on you. I'm just saying that as much as I appreciate you helping us, you can still go home. I don't think anyone is going to blame you."

Sam clenched her teeth – John had evidently hit a nerve. "You think I don't realize that?"

After so many weeks of arguing and attempts to keep the peace, John knew nothing was holding them back now. "I want you to know I won't hold it against you. I know you've still got a lot back home."

"I hate you, John." Sam hissed through clenched teeth. John expected something like this. "I hate that you were right, I hate that this had to happen and I hate the way things have turned out."

"Then why are you staying?"

"_Because I've got nothing left!_" Sam's voice turned into a yell. "I came here because I was _ordered to!_ How the _hell_ was I supposed to know this would happen?"

John winced hard and tugged on his nose – he replied and tried to remain civil. "You think I _wanted_ it this way? You think I _wanted_ to put you in this situation? I _hate_ this shit too but I don't know what the _fuck_ I'm supposed to do about it."

"_Nothing!_ There's nothing you could have done and now it's too late!"

"Then why don't you just go home?" John opened his eyes and moved his hand just soon enough to see Sam's hand come up in a slap. He staggered back from the hit and rubbed his cheek– _goddamn that stings._ John looked back at Sam who was trembling in fury. _She must have wanted to do that for weeks. _

"I guess I deserved that. I'm sorry I forced you into this Sam"

Sam breathed and controlled herself. John didn't see any remorse on her face and she visibly calmed down. "I know, and you didn't deserve that." John scoffed softly – _of course I do._ "_You deserve this_."

John was caught completely off guard after the slap and flew back from a hard palm strike to his head. He stumbled dazed – his head suddenly ached like it'd been hit with a sledgehammer and he could see stars. He knew Sam was furious, but not enough to assault him. He couldn't react as she rushed him and slammed him into the wall behind him. She got two hits in to his head before he raised his arms to defend himself. The initial strike had likely given him a concussion as he felt dizzy and disoriented. He blocked a hammer punch and was about to push away when she suddenly kneed him in the gut – doubling him over.

John curled reflexively when he felt Sam grab the back of his shirt and fling him to the ground – _goddamn she's strong –_ He rolled over onto his hands and knees, unwilling to strike back but now trying to at least protect his vital areas. Sam wasn't done yet and kicked him in the ribs, knocking him back to the ground. It was so ludicrous, John couldn't help but start laughing as Sam kicked him again and again. John rolled over onto his back – he felt blood trickling down the side of his head and his insides complained terribly. – _Concussion, bruised ribs, maybe a couple fractures _– John listed his likely injuries and kept laughing. He'd survived a military coup only to get his ass kicked by a girl.

Sam jumped onto him as he crawled to the wall hoping to pull himself. Her hands wrapped around his collar and began to slam him into the same wall he wanted to climb. "_Bastard, Son of a bitch, goddamn…" _The fury died down, and Sam's incoherent screams of rage slowly devolved into a muted sobbing. She stopped hitting him and now bowed her head into the crook of his shoulder. _"Oh god, oh my god. John, oh my god please I'm so sorry."_

It hurt to laugh but John couldn't help himself. He wrapped and arm around Sam as he hugged him and sobbed quietly – _everything _hurt. "Okay, _that_, I might have deserved."

"_Oh god." _Sam raised her head and focused. She looked him up and down – John felt he could walk, but the medics were likely to ask what had happened to him._ "John I-I-I…"_

"Sam, it's okay." John whispered. Despite everything hurting, the pain was an outlet of sorts. He almost felt _better_ for the asskicking. "You needed to get that out. I understand. Just… take me to the infirmary and we're all good, okay?" Instead of backpedalling, Sam helped him up, and supported his shoulder. Instead of heading to the transporter down the hall, she headed towards he quarters. John muttered as she limped forward.. "Hey what? Transporters that way. This ain't round two is it?"

"_John._" Sam emphasized as she helped him in. She sounded desperate and apologetic.

John figured with everything as crazy as it was, he might as well go with the flow. "So what, you got a medkit in here or something?"

"_Or something_…" Sam muttered as she helped John across the room and into the bedroom. John couldn't help but swallow in hesitation as she lowered him onto it so he could be comfortable. She knew exactly where to go even though the lights were off. The strange warbling ocean light from her window was enough.

John groaned as he used his sleeve to wipe away the blood on his face. Sam quickly rummaged though an old pack, and then produced some kind of crystal attached to a wrist strap. John had to ask; "The hell is that?"

"Tok'ra healing device." Sam strapped it to her hand and moved over to him. To his surprise, she hopped onto the bed and straddled him. She held the crystal out towards John's head as it began to glow. "Lie back and stay still."

John did as he was told and held still as the device began to glow. He felt a strange energy wash over his body – the pain was numbed and it wasn't long before he felt his muscles relax. He felt the gash on his head seal – very strange the sensation was. Sam moved along his entire body, healing all the damage she'd done not minutes ago. John knew a little about the Goa'uld and asked. "You can use these things? I thought only Tok'ra or Goa'uld could use them."

Sam bit her lip before replying softly. "I uh, about 10 years ago, a Tok'ra took me as a host for a few days. She left me with the protein marker needed to use Goa'uld technology." John had no clue – maybe those from that time knew, but obviously it wasn't something she told people frequently. "I-I hate using it. Makes me feel…" She didn't finish the sentence; it didn't need to be said.

John noted that while all the sharp pain was gone, he still felt sore and exhausted. Sam's bed felt like _exactly _the kind of rest he needed but he knew he had to go. "Thanks."

The silence was unbelievably awkward. John tried to worm out from under Sam, but she instead laid down and hugged him. "_I'm sorry John. God, I-"_

"Shh." John wrapped his arms around Sam's head and tried to comfort her. John couldn't help but laugh internally at the new mechanics of their relationship. She'd kicked his ass and he _still _felt bad. "It's okay Sam. You needed to get that out. It's okay, it's okay… _it's okay_." John thought about all he'd done. The lives he'd broken today and the people he'd betrayed. Life as he knew it was over and the shock was finally getting to him. "_It's gonna be okay…"_

John felt his breath catch as he leaned down and nuzzled Sam's head. He whispered, suddenly needing an answer. "_What have I done Sam? God I- this, this can't be real."_

"_It can't get any realer. I hate you John. And I hate that I do."_

It made perfect sense to John. He shifted and pulled Sam into a more even hug – he buried his face in her neck. "_I'm sorry. God forgive me, I'm so sorry I had to do this to you."_

"_I know, I-I want to forgive you." _Sam sniffled and shifted her own weight to get more comfortable. "_As much as I hate you right now, I know you're right."_

John could feel the exhaustion creeping up on him – he knew this wasn't his bed, and that falling asleep with Sam cuddled up to him was insane, but all he wanted was sleep. "_I'm glad you're here Sam. I know it's selfish and you have every right to hate me, but I'm glad you're here."_

Sam said nothing, and just let her body relax. John knew she needed sleep as badly as he did and began to shift her off him. He was surprised when she held onto him. "No."

"Huh?"

"John." Sam sighed. She seemed almost ashamed to say it. "I, I don't want to be alone right now. I know it's weird and… and I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I just really don't want to be alone."

It had struck John earlier that day – being alone meant they could think about everything that happened. The strangeness and even awkward feeling cuddling with Sam in bed would serve as a distraction – maybe they _could _sleep then. Maybe he'd even forgo the nightmare of what little he remembered of Rodney's memories. "_Shit_." He gulped and figured it was worth it. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, he found Sam's warm body very comforting. It was just _so weird. _In his mind he kept screaming about the rules, but the rules didn't matter anymore.

Escape, that was what John needed. They were exhausted, they were delirious, and now if the way Sam was acting was any indication, they were certainly desperate. John muttered as he caught his breath. "I..I… shit."

Sam sighed and rubbed her head against his chest using him as a pillow. "You're right. You _should _go, but I _want_ you to stay."

"Is-is that what you want?" John couldn't help but see it now. The base may have seen his and Larrin's pseudo-relationship as gossip mil, but in that time he'd spent the most important moments of his life with the woman in front of him. She understood him, and that's when he realized he was only awkward because of a rule from an organization he no longer followed. It dawned on him that she must have been thinking the same thing.

"We've broken every other rule in the book." Sam said confirming his suspicions. "So yeah, yeah I do want you to stay."

"Okay." John said. No matter what, he couldn't refuse her now. She needed this, they _both_ did. So John quietly shifted, and Sam did the same in response until they found a position they both felt comfortable in, and fell asleep.

**June 9****th****, 2008**

**Daedalus, Atlantis Pier**

"Thanks." Sam accepted the canteen from John and took a swig. Sitting on the Daedalus bridge with John and Major Marks wasn't exactly what she'd planned on doing this morning, but with the Travelers doing a decent job running the city for now, she wanted to take stock and find out who was with them, as well as take a look at the readings from the Superhive. Marks was off to the side working on a console while John sat next to her. "We need to move fast. These scans Daedalus took of that Superhive aren't promising."

John nodded, and looked over to where Marks was busy. "It killed seven Auroras and crippled this ship. I don't think even Atlantis itself could face that firepower." He sighed and rubbed his head – Sam had noticed how he'd been quiet and detached since waking up in the morning. _God, I can't believe we actually slept in the same bed. "_Marks brings us to six people from Earth on our side, not counting Ronon's team. Vega, Drake and Mehra know what's going on now and they're thinking about it. Ronon trusts them not to try anything stupid."

"And everyone else is still in that tower." Sam reminded him. It was a difficult moment coming up for them. "We'll need to tell them what's going on sooner rather than later."

"Yeah." John mused. "They've got plenty of food. They'll be fine for now. We might want to take stock before we talk to them

Sam just wondered what they must have been thinking. Colonel Caldwell and Lorne had been incarcerated separately, while the rest of the staff had been locked into one of the side towers on the main section of the city. With so much on her mind, Sam wanted to take the time to figure out what she could possibly tell them. "That's good, hopefully we've got enough time to get them all back home before we take off."

Major Marks moved in from the side. His tone was calm and just a little shy. "Hey."

"Hey." Both Sam and John replied with somber nods. Sam continued. "Any luck?"

"No dice." Marks replied, Sam could see how he shifted back and forth – what had brought him to the decision to join them? Marks sighed as he sat on the console opposite Sam and rubbed his eyes. "She needs a week and a half in a shipyard. The superstructure's intact but the hull is falling apart. Most of our powergrid is failing and any workarounds we do would be patch work at best. That Superhive is incredibly dangerous."

Sam just nodded in agreement. She could smell the burnt metal and plastic around them. It reminded her of the smell Odyssey made when they'd been damaged so heavily by the Ori in their galaxy.

John sighed and added. "Wish I could send her back home. No telling how long it would take us to fix this thing." Sam was thankful he neglected to mention the _'That's if we live that long.'_

It didn't need to be said though, and Marks looked around with nostalgia. "Doesn't feel the same, don't think it ever will."

Sam had to know, she looked at Marks and asked. "Major, I'm glad you're helping. Lord knows we need people who understand our technology, but…"

"Why?" Marks asked. Sam was glad he aws still as sharp as ever.

"Well, yeah."

Marks took a second to reply – his voice lowered. "I lost a lot of friends on Apollo." Marks spoke seriously, his voice bereft of emotion. "Ever since, we've been kicking ass and getting our asses kicked. I've fought too hard for this. I can't live knowing I didn't do everything I could to help these people, and this city."

"Do you understand?" John asked. "We're not going home. Not anytime soon and maybe not ever."

Sam winced – her memories were still haunted by Jack's last words to her. That and waking up to John's snoring.

Marks shook his head. "I know. But this…" He motioned to Daedalus. "This is home to me. When they gave me a position on Prometheus, I realized that Earth just wasn't exciting enough. I haven't exactly spent much time back there, and I've made my peace a long time ago. My home is the stars."

Sam smiled at his thoughts. In many ways she felt the same, except she wished she _did _still have a life to return to. "Poetic. I like it." She sighed and looked to them both. "I'll stay and help you with the ship for a bit. John, could you take these scans of the Superhive to Doctor Zelenka and Larrin? I'm sure they'll want to see it." Sam handed the canteen John had given her to Marks, and then a USB key with the Superhive information on it to John.

Marks accepted the canteen Sam handed him. "There's no chance of repairing the ship with just us in time. I've unlocked most of the ships sytems but..." Je stopped for a moment and winced. "Well, we'll see what we can do. Maybe the Travelers can give us a hand."

John got up and nodded to them both. "Good. Call if you need anything. I know Mila mentioned she wanted to look at the ship and I'm sure some of the Travelers will want to help. I think since we're basically on our own now, we should take it."

Sam looked at John's face and saw the same one she'd woken up to. His eyes were apologetic, yet caring. It hadn't been as awkward as she'd thought it would have been, but still, it wasn't like they were going to talk about it anytime soon. "Agreed. They've been good so far and once we know who's staying and who's going, I think we should try and work out some kind of command structure with them to keep the city running."

"Later. For now, lets just deal with this one crisis at a time."

**Atlantis Control Room**

John had come to the control room and given the information on the Superhive to the appropriate people. He had expected to see Chuck here, but the Sergeant was suspiciously absent. Just as he was about to make a call though, he heard Chuck on the radio. "_Uh, this is Chuck, Colonel Sheppard are you there?"_

"Chuck, where are you?" John replied.

"_Can we switch to private?"_

John looked around him, why would Chuck need to speak to him privately. "Uh, yeah." John switched the line to an encrypted channel and continued. "Are you okay?"

John waited for a reply as he looked around the control room. Travelers looked at him every so often, but all eyes were on Larrin as she walked up the gateroom stairs and into the room. She smiled and nodded to John. _She's in a good mood._ He did notice she'd changed from her typical clothing – she wore a black pair of loose pants rather then her typical leathery stuff. _Must have snagged one from the laundry._

Chuck replied after a hesitative laugh. "_Uh, yeah. But um… I need a favor."_

"Shoot."

"_Can you bring me a set of BDUs? I'm in my quarters and my laundry was out when this all happened."_

John scoffed and couldn't help but laugh. _What a ridiculous problem. _"Uh, I don't mind, but I don't think anyone's going to complain if you wear a dirty pair to go get a new one."

"_That's just it, I uh, I don't have any here right now."_

"What?" John asked furrowing his brow and lowering his voice. "So your BDU's vanished overnight?"

"_Not exactly. It's.. well, I don't suppose Larrin's around is she?"_

"Yeah. She just walked into the control room, where you should be I might add." John still didn't understand. What the _hell _was Chuck smoking?

"_Don't suppose she's got something that doesn't belong to her?"_

John turned to look at Larrin again. She looked quite normal, except- "Wait. What the hell?" It slapped John like a bag full of trout. _Those were Chuck's pants!_ "Uh, Chuck?"

"_Yes, sir?" _Chuck replied sheepishly. John was shocked, but at the same time Larrin's good mood suddenly made sense.

"Those are yours aren't they?"

Chuck laughed in embarrassment. _"Yes uh, well, you know what it's like. In the dark, feeling around…"_

"Nyah!" John _really_ didn't need to hear this. At least _someone _had fun last night. "Yes, yes. Thank you. I needed that mental picture." Chuck snorted at his sarcasm. John sighed and realized that yes, he would need to go get Chuck a pair of pants. "Guess you wanna keep it on the downlow?"

"_Yes sir, and I'm __not__ going out with her pants."_

John shuddered at the thought of Chuck wearing skintight leathers. "Yeah, I can appreciate that. I'll uh, I'll swing by in a few minutes."

"_Thanks, sir."_ Chuck remained quiet a minute and then spoke again quietly. "_You uh, __you're, you're not mad... are you?"_

John was only mad that Chuck had gotten release, and all he'd gotten last night was awkward questions he didn't want to answer right now. For just a moment, he wished he _had _taken up Larrin's offer awhile ago. "Nah. Don't worry buddy. I'm a little jealous sure, but I'm not mad."

Chuck sighed in relief. _"Thanks sir, I'll be waiting."_

John shut the link off and moved over to where Larrin had figured out how to use the life signs detector the city used. He noticed she'd showered and her hair was wavy as a result. "Nice pants." John mentioned as he faced off with her

Larrin shrugged and kept tapping controls as she put her learning to use. "Could have been yours. Doesn't mean it still can't happen." John raised his eyebrows at how little shame she showed. She shuckled softly and muttered. "God you people are so sterile. So what? I docked Chuck last night like he was giving me life support. Big deal. I wanted some comfort and he's surprisingly courteous."

W_hat_ _the hell are you saying? -_ "That's because he's Canadian." John muttered to himself, why did he always end up in these crazy situations?

"He mentioned Canada." Larrin mused then screwed her face. "Something about his culture being polite? Whatever. You had the chance to dock Carter last night so don't get angry at me for seizing the moment if you didn't." John lost his nerve. _Holy crap._ Larrin saw his shocked face and giggled. "Oh wow, you two didn't? Damn. You two could use some venting." Larrin turned in her chair and gave John a hard suggestive stare. "Don't worry, I won't tell her."

John should have guessed. Larrin probably had guards checking in on people – his quarters even. Her using the lifesigns detector only told him that she knew there were two people in Sam's quarters. Once he reattached his vocal cords, he whispered. "It's… _so _complicated. Whatever you and I have is a cakewalk in comparison."

"Sure, but I still don't get it." Larrin lowered her voice. "It's not like we're sharing lives or having kids. I thought you of all people might understand."

John understood what she was saying, just not _how _she was saying it. "Kinda, ten thousand years in space and-" he stopped when he realized he might offend her. "I mean, yeah. 'Docking' is just 'Docking' but when there's more, it's… I dunno landing on a planet?" Larrin snorted at his butchering of Traveler dialect. "Look, I know what you mean. I'm not against that sort of thing. Just-"

."You care about her." Larrin replied succinctly.

John did his best to hide the impact. _Hooray for subtlety. _"I care about a lot of people" He softened his look and saw Larrin smile a bit – she understood she was included in that list. "And a lot of those people are under guard waiting for what we're gonna do to them."

"You gonna tell 'em?"

John nodded. "Not everything. Just what matters."

Larrin nodded and waved him closer. "Come here."

"What?" John wasn't sure what to think.

"_Come here!"_ Larrin pulled John into a hug. John silently reciprocated – he wasn't sure what to feel. She whispered. "You need anything you just tell me. Things haven't been as smooth as I wanted, but I have you to thank for even having this chance. Don't regret helping us."

"I don't." John said with confidence, it was the _only _thing he was completely sure about.

Larrin snickered and turned him around. He flicned when she slapped his buttcheek and spoke up. "Go. Chuck needs pants. We're keeping an eye on those wraith, no telling what they'll try now that we're underwater.."

John just sighed and kept moving. The future looked interesting in all the wrong ways.

**Atlantis Brig**

"Major, least one of you guys kept your wits about you."

Lorne groaned as he woke up in the brig. Ronon had dragged him down here and one of the Travelers had decided to get a little revenge. Lorne hoped Ronon chewed the Traveler out for it. He looked around – he was in the brig with active forcefield, Caldwell sat across from him and looked unharmed. "Colonel. So they took Daedalus?"

Caldwell helped Major Lorne up and sat him on a bench across from him Lorne breathed in and out – recovering from the what had amounted to restless sleep. "Yes. We managed to get the ZPMs but we faced off against that Superhive the Wraith have. We lost." He shook his head. "This place is going ot come under siege very soon and I don't think it can hold up against that thing. The Travelers hit us as soon as we came back. I can't say I agree with Sheppard's methods, but I do think his heart is in the right place."

"Yeah, same here." Major Lorne sighed and rubbed his head. "How long was I out?"

Caldwell pulled out an MRE from the box next to them. Lorne accepted it gracefully. "A few hours I'm guessing. Ronon dropped you in here in the middle of the night when I was sleeping. Don't know where they took Major Marks."

"He was here?"

"Yeah, Sheppard talked to us and then left us alone. Marks asked to go to the washroom and I haven't seen him since."

Lorne chuckled. "I'm guessing he didn't want you to realize. Ronon told me he joined Sheppard." Lorne held his head. The Traveler Magnums certain stunned harder than the Wraith. "Something about _Apollo_."

Caldwell sighed and shook his head. "Honestly, I figured. Sheppard's a natural leader. His loyalties might be misplaced but you can't deny his morality."

Lorne opened the MRE and wondered what flavor he'd gotten. "Yeah, and I'm worried the others will listen to him,"

"Are you? Really?" Caldwell looked hard at Lorne. Lorne looked back at Caldwell's disbelieving face. "You've served with him a long time Major, you've lived here just as long. Why?"

Lorne sighed as he pulled a piece of the bar apart. It looked so unappetizing with the _Suitable for Military or Prison Use _stamped on the side. "You mean why I'm here instead of out there?"

"I'm a little surprised to see you here to be honest. I'd have thought you'd be standing right by him."

"Honestly?" Lorne took a bite – it was better than some foods he'd had but at this point e was looking forward to a Big Mac. "It wouldn't look too good for the rest of the base if the entire command staff mutinied."

Caldwell sat up straight. "Wait, the _entire_ command staff?" Lorne nodded. "So Sheppard didn't stun Carter and toss her into a closet? She's _with _them?"

Lorne screwed his face at the though Caldwell presented. "Where you get _that_ from?_"_

**Atlantis Conference Room**

"The whole Scooby Gang's here, huh?" Dusty muttered as she and Alicia entered the rroom. Alicia winced _– This was serious dammit. _Dusty looked at everyone staring at her and shrugged. "Sorry."

Alicia rolled her eyes and looked around the conference room. Sheppard sat at the head of the table with Carter and Larrin beside him. Major Marks was beside Larrin along with Zelenka and Mila. On the other end were the seats apparently designated for her, Dusty, Drake and Ronon who looked at them expectantly. The fact that the city had submerged into the ocean wasn't lost on Alicia – it was finally crunch time.

Dusty had already decided, and so had Drake. Alicia herself was still a bit unsure. She had family on Earth, close family, but she'd taught them to be self-sufficient. This was her decision and she still had time to make it.

Sheppard waved them in and shook his head. "Don't worry about it Mehra. This does feel cartoonish." He looked around the table. Alicia could see him gauge everyone as they sat. Chuck followed momentarily after and simply leaned against the wall. Alicia really did feel like she was in a Scooby gang now. ""I've been keeping the whole plan from a lot of you. That's because I honestly didn't know where the hell we're going to go."

Zelenka stood – Alicia noted that he'd cut his hair and looked fresher. She always thought his crazy hairdo reminded her of a startled cat. He used a remote to engage a hologram in the middle of the room."Yes, as you can see, the Wormhole drive theoretically has no limit in range." On the screen it showed something similar to a Stargate activation only much larger. "It uses a subspace folding technology in conjunction with-"

"It's like a giant ring of the ancestors!" Mila interrupted Zelenka with a smack on his arm. Alicia raised her eyebrows at the familiar way they spoke, but even more that Zelenka didn't seem to mind. "We're guessing it'll take about half the power of the Ancestral Potentia we've got to activate it, but we can go _anywhere_."

Zelenka shrugged and nodded. "To put it simply, yes. The drive has no limit as far as distance as long as accurate space-time coordinates are used. The power difference between a distance of say 3 million light years and 3 _billion_ light years is negligible due to the effect of the subspace folding."

"Radek, are you sure this drive will work?" Carter interrupted. She leaned forward and drummed her fingers on the desk. "We have no idea what'll happen to subspace if we fold it tha tightly. We could run into turbulence we aren't anticipating."

Alicia raised an eyebrow and stayed quiet. Dusty to her side simply blanked while Drake picked at his fingernails. She didn't understand what they were talking aobut but she'd caught that Carter was talking from some kind of prior knowledge.

Both Zelenka and Mila looked to each other and furrowed their brows. She felt Dusty kick her foot, a smile on her face at what they were seeing. _Yes Dusty, It's funny. I get it. _

Zelenka shrugged. "Had not considered that." He shook his head and continued. "In any respect, the only limitation is accurate coordinates. There are variables as well including gravitational lensing and the path through subspace we would take, but while we may not fully understand the technology and science behind the drive, it is simply a matter of turning it on and feeding accurate coordinates."

Alicia noticed how the entire group stirred at the revelation. She could understand their reluctance to use technology they didn't understand. She never got into a plane or chopper without knowing how it worked either.

Sheppard nodded and motioned Zelenka to sit. "Thank you. But I think we need to get to a more critical point." He turned to everyone again and spoke with strength. "I know what I'm doing here and where I'm going. Earth isn't an option for me. I want everyone to go over that in their heads. No matter where we go, we can't exactly head back to Earth without serious repercussions to us all."

Chuck stepped forward without hesitation. "No offence Colonel, but I knew that when I came to Atlantis in the first place."

Alicia saw Sheppard hide a wince – was there something he wasn't telling everyone? "Be that as it may, we still had an organized force of people who were prepared for that." He turned to Larrin. "No offense to your people, but we don't exactly work on the same wavelength."

"We've noticed." Larrin smiled back coyly. Alicia smirked at her sarcasm. "We also see how your system works. We're not used to having such a large population and resources. I've talked to the council and they're more than willing to listen to your recommendations. That is providing we survive this insane plan."

Alicia winced – Larrin had said what was on everyone's minds. To her shock, Dusty spoke up. "Well, I could just as easily go back to Earth and get run over by a bus. If I'm gonna die, I'd rather it have some meaning."

Carter winced and said. "That's not exactly the mindset I was expecting Sergeant."

"Well the reverse is true too." Dusty explained. "If I'm going to live, I want it to have meaning. I don't feel comfortable leaving this place behind when I know I can help." She shrugged. "I'm assuming I can. I'm no scientist."

"No telling what we'll face when we get there." Ronon added. "We'll always need to be able to protect ourselves."

"Good points." Sheppard said. "What about you Marks? I know we've talked, but have you thought anymore about it?"

Marks shook his head. "Nope. Like I said, I've made my decision. I've lost too many friends to let this place go. And besides, Daedalus will need someone to take care of her."

Mila rubbed her hands together. "Oh, I've been wanting to see inside her for awhile. You and I need to talk."

A few stifled laughs, and Sheppard moved on. "Chuck? Anything to add?"

Chuck shook his head. "_Uno Ab Alto_. Adventure awaits."

"Fair enough." Shepaprd looked around and then looked at Alicia and Drake. "You two have been quiet. I want you to be sure, there's no going back on this kind of decision."

Alicia froze for a moment to think. Thankfully Drake replied. "I was gonna end up court martialled one of these days anyway." He said it with pride. Alicia rolled her eyes at his 'badboy' persona. "Haven't had much beyond the military for some time. If anything, this place gives me more life than back home. I'm in."

Everyone now looked at Alicia. She felt very small all of a sudden. Sheppard asked. "Captain?"

It took a few moments to think, but Alicia was able to express her thoughts. "I still have family back home. Three younger sisters. I won't go into details, but I've had to be a role model to them. I joined the Air Force so they could see what they could accomplish, and to take care of them." She saw everyone paying attention – Alicia wasn't used to getting so much attention at once especially since she liked to lurk in the shadows. "I don't think I could abandon these people and keep believing that. I think I'll miss Earth more than most of you, but I also think I'll feel even worse if I did run."

Everyone looked at her in sympathy – but Alicia took a deep breath and tried to keep calm. She hoped that she'd still have a chance to send a message back home, try and explain what happened to her family.

Sheppard continued. "Alright. That's, right. I want you to be sure Captain." He insisted and then said "Alright. This is all pointless if we don't have somewhere to go. Zelenka?"

Zelenka clicked his remote again and now the image of several galaxies showed. "I've been able to calculate accurate coordinates for the following galaxies, The Milky Way obviously, as well as the Ida and Othala Galaxies where the Asgard were based. The other three are galaxies from the Ancient Database that have mention in the database as being studied by the Ancients."

Larrin leaned over to look. "Three Galaxies? So it's possible they could even _be_ there?"

"Highly unlikely." Zelenka said. "The database we discovered this information was incredibly old and incomplete. All we can be certain of is that these three galaxies were visited by a Stargate Seeding craft. However the third…" He pointed to a Ring Galaxy with a large yellow center. "Has mention of actual study and outposts not unlike the one in Antarctica on Earth."

"Radek." Carter asked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that Hoag's Object?"

Zelenka nodded. "Apparently the Ancients found it interesting as well."

Alicia stared at it. Dusty vocalized her thoughts. "Looks like a donut." Again, she received stares, but Dusty held her ground this time. "What? It does! The middle could be the jelly filling."

Ignoring the humor, Major Marks pointed at the galaxy and motioned to Carter. "Hoag's Object? You've seen this thing?"

Carter nodded. "Yes, it's a Galaxy that we've been studying back on Earth for years." She paused to collect her thoughts, unwittingly adding dramatic effect. "It's about half a billion light years away."

Everyone paused – even Alicia knew how far away that was. Marks' face turned white. "Half a _billion?_ As in five hundred million light years? That's two years even _with _a ZPM in Daedalus."

"One point eight actually." Sheppard replied. Alicia gave him an odd glance, she had no clue he was good at math. "In any case, it certainly keeps us safe from the Wraith, Replicators, or even the IOA." He sighed and shook his head. "I can't tell you all enough. _Please _be sure. At this rate we'll _never _see Earth again."

"You mean the planet where a bald prick like Woolsey can try and take over this place?" Drake replied. "No thanks. I'd rather take my chances with this wormhole drive than take orders from _them_ anymore."

Sheppard looked at them all once more. "Is that what you think?"

"June 9th, Atlantis Independence Day." Chuck said. "Nice to have another holiday in the summer."

Alicia couldn't help it and laughed. Sheppard looked at her and she quieted. "Sorry, sir. But Drake has a point. The IOA didn't care about this place. Even if they're just trying to protect Earth, I don't want to be a part of a system that would let that happen."

"Ditto." Dusty said.

Sheppard looked around with a smile now. "Thank you, .all of you." He took a deep breath, Alicia could see the pride was swelling in him to be around them. "Alright, next point. The Wraith are up there most likely waiting for that Superhive." he turned to Carter and motioned with his hand. "Sam?"

Alicia noticed how Carter hadn't said anything during their little pep talk about leaving the galaxy. Carter was a bit of a hero in some respects given her rank and history, so Alicia figured she was just being the daring adventurer she'd heard about in the SGC.

Carter nodded and leaned forward instead of getting up. "The scans Daedalus took of the Superhive show a massive amount of power coming from it. I've conferred with Major Marks and we both agree…" she paused for another moment. Alicia _hated _the dramatic pauses. "That Hive has a ZPM as its power source, or more accurately, two."

"Good lord." Zelanka muttered. "_Neuvěřitelné_, that means-"

"Yes." Carter interrupted. "From all our research and experience, the weakest point of Wraith technology is lack of efficient power generation. With a ZPM, they can regenerate their hull at an exponential rate, and overcharge their weapons to Asgard levels of power. Without need for shields, that thing is a match for even Atlantis. I'm shocked we were able to disable its hyperdrive – even with the Asurans firing on it as well."

Nobody said a word. Alicia had seen the Wraith in action on the ground and knew it wasn't too difficult to kill them. Organization and training paid off extensively when your opponent is hungry and desperate. But if they had something like that... Ronon growled. "Then we take it out. Find a way to kill it."

Larrin scoffed and shook her head. "And exactly how do you plan on doing that? Growl it to death? That _thing _took out our Aurora and six others and hardly broke a sweat. Fighting it is airlocking yourself."

Sheppard shook his head to Ronon "We can't. The only thing I can think of is sneaking a nuke inside. If that thing's armor is so tough, the compression would make a nuke extremely effective from inside. That's not exactly something we can do though, _and _it's a suicide mission anyway. Besides, with the Wormhole Drive we won't have to worry about the Wraith anymore."

Ronon still seemed pissed. Alicia saw it in his crossed arms and less than pleased expression. Thankfully Dusty as always could change the subject. "Good, I've had enough of Wraith for a lifetime. I'm curious, what about all the people who don't join us?"

"I'm getting to that." Sheppard said. Alicia noted that he didn't seem to care if they used the honorific or not anymore. She wondered what he might say if she called him John. "I'm sending one of the ZPM's we've captured back to Earth."

"What?" Larrin hissed. She narrowed her eyes and Alicia could hear the anger in her voice. "Like hell you are."

"There's still a chance that the Wraith or Replicators can find the Milky Way." Sheppard insisted, his voice rising to meet Larrin's. "That Superhive probably has better engines than your average Hive and could probably make it across the void."

"I _lost_ a lot of people getting that ZPM." Larrin said "I'm _not _about to give it to the _bastards_ who'd sit back and watch us die."

"Those _bastards_ are a _fraction_ compared to the number of people who'll die if the Wraith take Earth." Sheppard's reply was terse, Alicia recognized the voice of a CO. "I'm sorry you lost those people, but Earth has over 6 billion men, women and children that don't even know we're not alone in the universe. I'm sending this ZPM back so Earth can defend against _any_ potential invasion. _Not negotiable_."

Larrin looked like she wanted to argue more, but Sheppard shot her a fierce look that held her tongue. _Damn, he really is a CO. _Alicia hadn't considered just how stressful it must have been for them in the past few weeks. Certainly they'd had to talk about everything going on to run a coup this successful. Alicia knew not to fight a battle she couldn't win, and apparently so did Larrin who sat back down with a frustrated look. "Fine. But they're getting the used one."

It was obvious she wasn't happy, but nobody there wanted Earth to be defenseless. Alicia assumed the entirety of the IOA was a few hundred in total, and only the highest echelon would know or care about Atantis and Pegasus. She understood the logic – Earth had to come first for the IOA. The problem was Atlantis wasn't on Earth anymore.

Sheppard continued once more. "Like I was saying. I'm sending one of the ZPM's back so Earth can power their defenses. Everyone who wants to go back can go in peace. Everyone else, well you know the score now. Five hundred million light years means we'll probably never see Earth again."

Alicia still questioned her decision. There was so much she could still do back home, and her sisters while grown up weren't completely adults yet either. She was about to say something when Carter suddenly spoke. "I'm not going to lie. This is a big risk, and I'm going because I came here to make sure Atlantis was safe, and that's what I'm going to do. I don't want anyone to stay because they feel forced to." Carter looked over to Sheppard who bowed his head and closed his eyes. Alicia narrowed her own seeing how Sheppard seemed almost apologetic – something was up between those two but Alicia didn't feel right prying. She focused on her own decision as Carter spoke. "That being said, I'm very proud of you all. Everyone on this base has done an amazing job, and I can't hold it against anyone if they want to go home."

Chuck spoke up now, his voice almost offended. "You keep bringing that up. I think we _all_ know that Earth isn't an option for us anymore. We might have different reasons, but we're staying."

"I want them to be _good_ reasons." Sheppard insisted. "I want to make _damn_ sure that everyone who stays, stays because they _want_ to stay. I don't care why, You don't have to tell me, that's not what I'm asking. What I'm asking is that you ask yourself that question. I'm staying because I've got nothing left for me back home. I've dealt with all my issues there and I don't consider it home anymore. That's where I'm at. So if you're staying, I want you to make a video, write a letter, hell, give someone your bank pin number for all I care. Just deal with your affairs back home so you don't leave _anything_ behind you'll regret."

Carter nodded. "We'll send it all with the people who want to go home. I'll set up a laptop in my office with a camera so you can record anything you need. I want each of you to send something back."

Alicia wondered what she could say. Sheppard spoke over her thoughts. "That just leaves telling the people we've got locked up what the score is. I don't expect many to want to come with, but you never know."

Not many indded, Alicia thought. She figured taking the time to work her thoughts out and send a video back would be the best use of her time.

**Atlantis, Temporary Detainee Tower**

Laura Cadman had been caught with her pants down, _literally._ She'd been in the process of getting changed in the locker room to respond to Major Lorne's call for assistance when the red bolt of Traveler Stunner knocked both the wind and consciousness from her. She was _very_ angry when she woke up, as someone had been _nice_ enough to put a pair of pants on her. She was just thankful she had the same underwear and bra on. _That _was certainly not a part of her day she was expecting.

Waking up in the detainee tower with the window outside leading to a view of _freaking underwater_, she'd quickly realized that quite a bit of time had passed. They'd taken any weapons or even things that looked like weapons. The Travelers had obviously been planning this for awhile and knew what to do. Most of the civilians were here, and as time went by more and more Marines were chucked in, stunned. Key faces were missing though, and Laura was worried that the Travelers had perhaps killed them. The marines and officers who'd been awake tried to come up with ways to fight back, but the Travelers just had too many people.

Teldy had told her of Sheppard and Lorne's argument over the PA system, that's when Laura realized what was going on. Everyone had quieted and talk of insurrection had died down. It was disturbing to think of the fighting going on throughout the city.

Laura was still having trouble comprehending it. Colonel Sheppard had mutinied and taken over Atlantis alongside the Travelers. From what it seemed, Colonel Carter had joined him. Once she understood why they'd done it, it seemed less dishonorable. But there were people missing here. Laura had to presume they were injured and being taken care of, but quickly paranoia was taking hold.

Laura didn't know what to think and she was deep in thought when the doors to the large room opened and a dozen Traveler security guards entered, their weapons drawn. Behind them, Colonel Sheppard entered along with Colonel Carter.

No one had been really expecting this, but quickly people began to yell at their captors and it took the Travelers aiming their weapons to silence them. Major Teldy was the ranking officer and faced off with Carter and Sheppard. Cadman stood back but within hearing range.

Before Teldy could say much, Sheppard barked. "Listen up all of you. I know you're frightened, but you're in _no_ danger. The only reason you're all here is because I know a lot of you won't agree with me."

Teldy scoffed and shot back. "You start a mutiny and stun me and my men, you take this base and declare independence. You're _damned_ right we're not going to agree."

"That's why I'm here." Sheppard said. "I'm going to explain what I've done." Sheppard looked to his side where Carter gave him a silent nod. "We're going to be taking Atlantis away from Pegasus. A _long_ ways away. In all likelihood we're never going to see Earth again, but I'm not going to let the people on this base die at the hands of the Wraith and Replicators, you all included."

Teldy looked mildly surprised, but kept her composure. "What have you done with Caldwell and Lorne?"

"They're fine." Sheppard said. "I've spoken with them and they don't agree with me. However I'm not going to put you through something you never asked for. We're going to be sending anyone who doesn't want to join us back to Earth. I'm _not_ asking anyone to stay. I just want you to ask yourself if you feel okay working for a system that would let this galaxy die out of indifference. Only, and I truly mean only, if you can accept never seeing Earth again, and want to be free of that system, am I welcoming you to an independent Atlantis."

A murmur and stirring moved through the crowd. It was certainly a difficult question to answer. Carter moved forward and spoke now with conviction. "We're going to be sending you back to Earth first thing tomorrow. Anyone who wants to stay has until then to decide."

Laura gulped. _Leave Earth behind? _She certainly hadn't had any intentions of leaving Atlantis behind. Her team had been split by the mission they'd undertaken, many were cold and soldiers to the bone – marines sent by the IOA specifically for the combat taking place in the galaxy. Few officers and peacetime soldiers were left – Laura included.

Teldy remained silent for another few moments, then looked to John. "You make a strong case, but you can't ask me to break my oath."

Sheppard nodded. "I understand. It's not easy, and I know I'm damned for it. You're a good soldier Major. Don't let this discourage you, you have a great future in the Air Force,"

Teldy softened her features. The scientists and soldiers behind her and Laura began to speak amonst themselves. Laura just found herself questioning what her own goals were. Teldy dighed and said calmly. "Anything you want me to tell the folks back home, Sheppard?"

Sheppard took a moment to contemplate before replying. "Yeah. Fortune favors the bold. Sorry I won."

**Atlantis, Sam's Office.**

Alicia looked at the camera and hesitated. She'd made a firm decision, and the only impedes was how to explain it without giving away classified information to her family. Everyone else had gone already, and now she was the last one left.

"Hey Gabe. And Steph. And yeah you too Ellie." She began. "I uhh… I don't know how or if they'll reach you but-" Alicia stopped suddenly. _Dammit woman, you sound like a girl. _Alicia calmed down and hit the reset button. The video began to record once more. "Hi Mom. I uh, I'm not quite sure how to start this. I know we spoke about this when I went to Iraq but I guess I just wanted to clear the air once more." Alicia smiled, and then winced and shut the video down again _Dammit._

She started and stopped three more times, Each time hating how unprofessional she wored it. It just didn't sound serious enough for her family to recognize what this meant to her. She sat for several minutes before finally deciding she knew how she wanted this to go. She started the camera again and spoke calmly. "Hi. If you're watching this, then that means that I'm not going to be reachable anymore. Now don't panic. I'm not dead." Alicia held up a hand to the camera already imagining how her mother would react. "At least I don't think I am. I know it's confusing, and you think that you're getting this video because I kicked the bucket. That's not what this video is. I made my peace with you all when I went to Iraq." She breathed out and in. This was going to be short and sweet.

"There's a situation here. It's incredibly complicated, and you won't be able to find any information on what I'm doing or where I am. It's possible this might take a very _very _long time. I just want you all to know that I'm making my decision because of what you taught me Mom, what I tried to teach you three as well." She took a breath. There wasn't much more she could exaplain, but she also knew the IOA would likely censor any classified information. "There's a lot of people who might need to depend on me. I've helped a lot of people, I get looked at by civilians and I'm a hero to them. That doesn't matter to me nearly as much as how I look to you."

"I want you all to know I love you, from the deepest place inside me. I know things have been hard – I've been away and you've all probably been worried sick about me." Alicia realized that she really hadn't talked to them in quite some time; ever since she finished her tour against the Ori. "I'm making a decision right now that's really… well it's really freaking hard. But I know it's the right decision."

"I'm helping people. I'm making a sacrifice to ensure that a lot of people are safe. I have the chance, I could come home if I wanted to. The problem is, I've been fighting for these people so long, I don't think I could face you knowing I left them."

The counter kept ticking higher and higher. Alicia knew she could be a windbag if she let herself, so she cut the rest of her filler. "I love you all. I can't say that enough. Be proud of me, and make me proud of you. I kinda doubt it, but maybe I'll swing by one day and we can hit up a Taco Bell." She laughed suddenly. The realization she might never have a Taco Supreme again… "Yes yes… I know it's not real Latin food, but _Gallo Pinto _just isn't fun mom." She smiled and couldn't help but laugh. It finally dawned on her that she was making a fresh start, admittedly one without Doritos but she'd make due. "Make me proud gals. Remember, don't get knocked up unless he's rich." She giggled and then shook her head. "_No_! No no no… I'm sorry, mom. I had to." She calmed down and then force herself to be serious. "I mean it now. Goodbye. Thank you for everything."

She slowly reached over to the end button on the laptop and clicked it. The video stopped recording and Alicia felt strange. One weight had been lifted off her shoulders, only for another to come and take its place. But her decision was made – Hoag's Object was to come.

* * *

The entire renegade crew had finished filming and setting up their final affairs. Sam sat at her desk working furiously on her laptop combining it all to one external hard drive. She'd nearly cried again as she filmed a small clip for Cassie and begged her to forgive her for leaving. Half of Sam's estate would go to her, the other half to her brother Mark's kids in a college trust fund. Her personal items would go to the remaining members of SG1.

Cassandra had long since become very independent, but Sam regretted that she wouldn't see her live the rest of her life. Sam had also brought her camera down and filmed Daniel even as he lay in bed. The man left his wide collection of artifacts and manuscripts to museums, His bank account to charity, and the few personal items to Teal'c and Jack, as well as a few minor oddities to Vala of all people.

John on the other hand had refused to film a damned thing. He'd put all his affairs in order that last day in DC so many months ago, and now the only thing he sent was a trio of handwritten letters. Sam was curious as they were addressed to some pretty important people. One to the General of the Air Force and Joint Chief Moseley, one to the Commander in Chief President Hayes, and another to Major General Jack O'Neill. Sam was tempted to open the one to Jack, but decided against it. She respected his privacy in this matter.

The others had filmed small videos for family, explaining that they needed to do this, and that they shouldn't worry about them. The IOA likely would let the familes know that they were gone, but would they ever see these videos? It was possible.

The Wormhole Drive was being prepared now, it would require the hyperspace generators to be modified, and a good amount of the power grid to be redirected to the engines. Sam had contemplated helping, but with only offhand knowledge of what the drive actually entailed, she left it to Radek and Mila to work on.

John had stayed with Sam throughout the entire preparation, and now as they sat in her office while she compressed the video files, they talked about what they were going to do. "I'll still follow your lead, I might have planned this but-"

Sam scoffed. "You still respect my _rank_?"

"Your experience." John admitted,. "When I came here I knew jack squat. All I really know is Pegasus and- "

"-and I've had the experience dealing with completely unknown circumstances." Sam suggested.

John shrugged and then nodded.. "In not so many words. As you can see, I'm not cut out for military leadership."

Sam rolled her eyes. "I think you mean you couldn't be a politician. That's alright. I'm sure Larrin and the Travelers will more than make it up." She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "It's ironic you know. We really will be exploring, maybe we _should_ tell the SGC where we're going."

"We could do that." John suggested. "Maybe they'll work out a better hyperdrive and get to us in a year or two. It's not impossible."

Sam thought about it. It wasn't a smart idea – not with the IOA interested in the city's technology. "No, if they find us they'll want to take the city and unless the IOA goes through a lot of changes, they'll still want to prosecute us." Sam sighed. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Hoag's Object is about the same size as the Milky Way. Even if they caught up to us somehow, they'd never be able to find us."

Silence, neither could say anything else. Sam wondered if _any _of the crew would want to stay. It remained quiet in the room until Larrin blared over the intercom. _"Hey, I'm not interrupting you am I? Just let us know and you can dock in private."_

Sam winced – the familiarity with which Larrin had said it proved something she'd been suspecting throughout the day. She snapped back. "_Not_ in the mood Larrin, what is it?"

"_Calm down, don't clog an exhaust." _Sam shot a look to John, and seeing his dejected wince _knew_ that Larrin knew. _"Some of your people in detention say they want to join. My people are bringing them up one by one. You'll see them?"_

Sam bit the inside of her lip before replying. "Yes, send them one at a time to my office."

"_Will do." _Larrin's voice faded as her communicator shut off. _"Chucky! Give me a status on those hives."_

John snorted and spoke quickly. "So a few-"

"How'd Larrin know about last night?" Sam chided. She'd somehow gotten to a comfortable stage of forgetfulness about it and Larrin's tease only brought it all back up.

John hesitated a second and then sighed. "She had a guard outside my quarters, just in case one of those stragglers came after me. When I never showed she used the city's lifesigns detector. Saw two inside your quarters so, one plus one…"

Sam looked at John accusingly, but then realized it was no fault of his. Technically there was nothing to be ashamed of, but still she felt embarrassed. _"Shit."_

"I convinced her not to tell anyone." John said. "I figured we'd keep it between us, but now I don't know who knows" He looked at Sam with that apologetic face he'd have for days now. "If it helps, you can tease her about Chuck."

"Excuse me?"

"Uh, did you happen to see Larrin's pants?"

Sam looked at John with more than a little surprise. "No, sorry. I don't swing that way."

John smacked his forehead and sighed. "No seriously."

Sam recalled, it wasn't something she'd focused on. "Uh yeah, they were expedition-" Sam paused to realize what that meant, and what John was talking about. "Oh. Wait, that's… _really_?"

John nodded and motioned to the control room. "Had to get him another pair this morning. Not exactly what I'm used to doing here."

Sam just kept quiet and thought about it. All this time she figured Larrin and John might have ended up in that situation, and now Chuck? _Wow_. She calmed down as she saw someone recognizable heading their way across the bridge from the control room. It was a bit of a shock to see this person in this context.

Larrin opened the door and gave John and Sam a slightly knowing smile. "Figured you'd wanna talk to her first."

John shifted his seat around; his reaction was exactly what Sam felt. "Captain?"

Laura nodded, and went right into it. "You saved my life Colonel. You got the Travelers on our side, and you've done nothing but try to save these people." Sam couldn't believe it, someone _actually _believed in John enough to give up Earth. "If going back to Earth means I have to take orders from the people who wanted to stop you, well, I guess I know where I really want to be."

Larrin nodded and then waved them goodbye. Sam watched Laura for a few moments, awkwardly standing there before she could say anything. "Captain. please, sit."

* * *

Laura did as she was asked. Colonel Sheppard excused himself and left her alone with Carter. Laura just assumed he would talk to anyone else considering joining while Sam spoke with her. This wasn't an easy decision but Sheppard had made a crucial point. She'd joined Atlantis because of the adventure of it, but the past few months had made her consider this her home. There were people back Earth she wanted to see, but nothing she couldn't push past.

Carter spoke once Sheppard was outside. "There's no going back Captain, I want to make sure you understand this. The target we have is 500 million light years away" Laura raised her eyebrows. " That's more than a hundred times further from Earth than we are already. even with a ZPM it would take 2 years o get home on Daedalus."

Laura took a second to think. She sighed after considering it. "Like you said, it's not easy. I can't help but question whether I'd be alive or not if the IOA were in charge here, and I sure as hell don't want to find myself taking orders from them."

Carter blew a hard sigh. "Let's just be glad we won't have to find out."

"Ma'am?" Laura always kept her composure, but her curiosity knew little bounds. "Not to pry, but how long have you both been planning this? It had to have been a few months at least."

Carter sighed and shook her head. "I've only known specifics for about a month. I knew he was going to do something since our last trip to Earth though. It wasn't hard to see." Carter looked at Sheppard who appeared sheepish. "I just wish it didn't have to be this drastic."

Laura nodded, but kept silent. She'd seen how the upper echelon of the command staff had acted. There was gossip of screaming matches between Carter and Sheppard, not to mention the wild card of the Travelers. "I guess I just didn't bother to see it." She looked at Sheppard. "No offence to the Colonel, but he did change when you guys came back." She didn't bother to mention that she'd noticed that _Carter_ had changed too.

"We've all changed." Carter sighed softly. "Get some sleep Captain. We have no idea when the Wraith will launch their attack and we need to be frosty."

Laura took the hint and quickly got up. "Yes ma'am. If you don't mind, I'm gonna see what the Travelers have done to the Armory."

Leaving the room quietly, Laura wondered exactly what she was getting herself into. Atlantis had a lot of good memories, but at the same time it had some really bad ones too. Deep down Laura knew she could leave if she had to, but things just felt unfinished here and Laura hated leaving things like that.

She crossed the bridge and headed to the control room to inform Larrin of what she was doing. The Travelers continued to give her suspicious looks, but she cast it off realizing that of course they'd be wary of a soldier like her.

It came as a surprise to see Dr. Esposito of all people seated next to Chuck going over some technobabble thing on the screen. "Rafaela? You too?"

Rafaela turned to Laura and shrugged. "Uh yeah. I guess we'll have quite a while to talk about it."

Laura hadn't considered who else would want to join. She really couldn't think of anyone, and Rafaela _wasn't _on the list either. But things were already hectic, and Rafaela was right, they'd have time. "Guess you're right, just..." It was hard to imagine the Doctor had decided to leave Earth, she knew the woman had a large family. Pushing past though, Laura suddenly felt the need to talk to the man in charge. "Well. we'll talk later. have you seen Larrin or Sheppard?"

Chuck hooked his thumb over his shoulder with a bit of a smile. "Larrin's in the Jumper Bay, Sheppard just went out to the balcony."

Rafaela shuddered suddenly and shook her head to Laura. "I don't think you'll want to disturb the Colonel… I just talked to him and I think I might have struck a nerve…"

"Oh? What'd you say?"

Rafaela sighed. She spoke quietly so only Chuck and Laura could hear. "I uh, I told him why I wanted to stay." She paused, seemingly thinking about what to say. "Doctor McKay might have been a little rude sometimes. Actually most of the time, but he always defended us to the IOA and well… after the ascending machine mishap, he defended me personally. They were going to send me back but he fought to keep me here. I owe it to him to see that the city stays safe."

Laura was lost for words. She had never even considered the idea that some people might want to stay out of a sense of honoring the dead. But it made sense. Laura didn't want anymore corpses on her conscience. "Yeah, I miss him too."

**Daedalus, Atlantis Pier**

Kevin wasn't expecting anyone to be on Daedalus apart from him. The entire crew was quarantined and as far as he knew, no one other than Mila and a few of the expedition members would have any interest in it. He'd wanted to clean up the mess in the bridge, broken consoles and panels that would take forever for him to fix on his own, if he even could.

So it surprised him to see a darker skinned woman sitting on the command chair, staring off into the distance of the fractured viewscreen. He wondered who she was. "Hello… and you are?"

The woman turned her head to him and spoke softly. "Katana."

Kevin recognized the name. "Katana? Aren't you a Traveler Captain?" She nodded, though she didn't' say anything. It took a second for Kevin to remember. "Wait, you were on the Aurora."

"Yup." Katana replied. "Right before before the Wraith blew it to hell."

Kevin had lost a ship before. He'd also lost a good friend that day in Colonel Pendergast. Carter had forced him to be objective that day and ever since he felt like he owed her, just another reason he was here now. "I'm sorry we couldn't get everyone. We barely made it out ourselves.

"I was there, wasn't your fault."

"I mean I sympathize." Kevin replied and moved around so he could face her. "I know what it's like to lose friends, lose a ship."

"You mean Asuras? I don't know whether to admire your people or hate them." Katana sighed and rubbed her forehead.. "You lose a ship, you build more. You lose people, you bring more." She turned to face him angrily. "_We_ lose a ship, and we lose our _home_. _We _lose people, and our people are that much closer to extinction." She obviously wasn't happy, why she came to Daedalus was a mystery to Kevin. "How can you _possibly_ know what I'm feeling?"

Kevin sat at his normal post near the front of the ship – he spun his chair around. "You're right. I don't know what that's like." Kevin kept his voice calm, no sense angering her more with his opinion. "But I've seen my friends, my _comrades_ get butchered in front of my me. Tomorrow, I'm saying goodbye to my planet and everyone on it. I have friends and family back on Earth, but the last five years of my life have been on our ships. All I have left is this ship and anyone who stays." It was a little harsher than he meant it to come out, but Kevin didn't care much at this point. "So I might not know what _your_ pain feels likes, but don't you _dare_ say it's worse than mine."

Katana stayed quiet for a moment before asking. "You have family back on your planet?"

Kevin nodded, and he leaned forward with his elbows on his thighs. "A brother and a sister. I haven't talked to them in years. Most of my _family,_ has died on combat, oris going back to Earth tomorrow."

"You think of your crewmates as family?"

"What else are they? We've been living and dying on this ship for years." Kevin gulped repressing his gasp. "We would have kept on living and dying if this hadn't happened."

Katana seemed to calm down, Kevin's words had impact he could see. "Why are you staying?"

Kevin took a few moments to consider how to put it. He finally sighed and looked around. "Because a lot of my friends died for this place. I'm not going to run away because it's getting tough. I haven't lived on Earth in years, so it's not a big adjustment for me." He smiled ruefully. "Besides, a little sweeping, a little welding. Maybe some help from your tech crews and I think we can make this bird spaceworthy again."

Katana smiled and looked around herself. Kevin realized that maybe he'd just made a friend.

**Atlantis Infirmary**

Jennifer awoke to a soft yet firm pillow under her head. She didn't even bother to open her eyes she was still so tired and simply cuddled again trying to get hadn't slept well in months and the feeling was too good to let go. When an arm came around her she didn't question it right away, but in the truest sense of the double take, she realized that someone had just put their arm around her.

Jennifer flinched awake, and quickly rubbed her eyes. She realized that she was still on that couch in the Infirmary. Ronon sat next to her with his shoulder acting as a pillow. "Hey."

Jennifer was awestruck. She'd woken up in Ronon's arms before, but usually that was when Jennifer had passed out on this couch and he was carrying her to her quarters to sleep. Never had she simply awoken _next _to him. "Ronon? Wha, what time is it?" A shrug was all Ronon could reply with. "How long have I been out?" Another shrug. "Do you know _anything?"_

Ronon chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Probably not."

Jennifer rubbed her eyes and pouted in irritation. She forced herself to get up – there was so much still to do, She was surprised when Ronon pulled her back down. "Hey! What are you…?"

"_Reyna_ can take care of things. You need sleep and you're getting it." Ronon didn't make it a request.

Jennifer sighed and felt the exhaustion still in her body. It had gone beyond the capability of a good night's sleep. She needed a vacation in every sense of the word. "What I _need_ is a hypobaric chamber and Snow White's apple." She saw Ronon's confused look and relented. "Oh alright, but can I at least go to my quarters? Or are the Traveler's taking that as well?"

Ronon shook his head. "In fifteen hours, Sheppard and Carter are dialing Earth and sending back anyone who doesn't want to stay. This city is leaving the galaxy and we probably won't see Earth ever again."

Jennifer took a minute to digest what she'd just heard. Earwax could be a problem and she decided to make sure it wasn't at fault here. "Sorry, come again?"

"You heard me." Ronon replied. "Anyone who wants to join us can, but we're leaving Earth behind,"

"Like, cutting contact? Going to the next galaxy?"

"Carter says its more than five hundred light years away."

Jennifer knew enough about astronomy to know exactly how far that was.. "Uh, what? How is that even possible? It'd be years to get to it on Daedalus."

"Sheppard did the math." Ronon chuckled. "It's 11 years away with Daedalus, no ZPM."

Jennifer's throat constricted, She knew how far _Pegasus_ was using Daedalus, but 3 weeks was nothing compared to 11 years. "11 years? That's…"

"Leaving Earth behind." Ronon said again.

Jennifer was flabbergasted. It took her almost a minute to mentally catch up, to realize just how bad the situation had gotten and the steps they had to take to survive. "You're asking me whether I'm going to stay or go." Ronon nodded gently. Jennifer rubbed her face and began to think about it.

She was only twenty four years old. Most of her life had been spent in schools and universities. She'd fought hard to get to where she was in the medical world and defended it religiously. Atlantis had seemed like a fairy tale when she first arrived… but then everything began to fall apart. First Carson, then Dr. Weir, Heightmeyer, Asuras. People were just dying left and right and Jennifer was powerless to stop it.

She shouldn't have taken Carson's job. Carson and Weir could say all they wanted to, but she was just too young and inexperienced. That's what got her into this mess in the first case, She was such a prodigy at medicine that it was only obvious for her to take over when Carson died.

She'd aged at this job. Her oath to do no harm and heal the sick had taken its toll. She could feel the heavy bags on her face, the pressure her eyes were under from constant strain. Her hands had become calloused from working so much. Jennifer was drained, and as much as she'd like to stay in this fairy tale, it felt more like a Brother's Grimm story now. "I-I can't."

Ronon kept his arm around her and squeezed. "It's okay you know? I-" he sighed and shook her a bit in consolation. "I'll miss you. You helped me when I really needed it, don't let anyone tell you you're too young, too naïve. You're smarter than that. I know everyone else is going to miss you as well."

That only served to make Jennifer's thoughts harder. She'd been struggling to come to grips with everything that was going on. Now she was about to leave this place and put a dash to many of her hopes. "I'm going to miss this place, and you." She sniffled and leaned in to give the man a hug, uncaring of whoever saw her.

Ronon returned the hug. They stayed like that just long enough, and then Ronon said. "You've got 15 hours, maybe you should go get your stuff packed."

Jennifer nodded softly and dug her fingers into Ronon's shoulders. "Come with me?"

With a gentle move, Ronon helped Jennifer up and nodded. "Yeah, sure."

* * *

Torren Rodney was still in the incubator, his breathing was a little erratic, but the Traveler doctors having had plenty of experience with population control were taking very good care of the boy. Teyla had quickly become good friends with Reyna, who took a personal interest in keeping the boy comfortable.

It was getting late in the day, and Teyla had been cooped up in the infirmary. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be though, seeing Laura and Rafaela come by to visit was heartening, and Teyla couldn't help but smile when she saw Ronon lead Jennifer out with his arm around her. Jennifer had been put under so much strain it was almost good to see her go home to somewhere she could rest.

Teyla knew that many people were going through very serious life changes right now. The Pegasus Galaxy was as good as finished. She wondered what had happened to all the cultures she knew, all the people she'd spent her life trading with, getting to know.

It wasn't long before she found herself sitting by Daniel's side, the archeologist in good spirits despite everything. "How's the little guy?"

Teyla smiled and sighed. "Resting, as is most of the city. From what John has told me, the people who will be heading back to Earth tomorrow will be given a chance to take their closest personal belongings with them through the Stargate."

"That's good, I'm guessing Sam was the one to suggest that."

"I would not be surprised." Teyla took a moment to herself to think. "Is there anything on Earth that you would have liked to bring?"

Daniel shrugged and winced slightly. Teyla winced in sympathy since he'd obviously still felt pain. "Coffee. Lots of it." They both laughed at the thought. "In all honesty, I'm going to miss the people more than anything else."

Teyla understood perfectly, she already missed so many people that she would never see again. "Tell me, I've heard from John that you and Samantha used to be a part of a team much like mine. Who were they?"

Daniel smiled as he reminisced. "Ahh yes, SG-1. Seems like such a long time ago." He took a second to collect his thoughts and turned to Teyla. "It's been a long ride, started oh, fourteen… almost fifteen years ago."

"Sounds like quite an adventure."

"That it was. We're a long way from where we started."

Teyla shifted in her seat, picked up the tray of food next to the bed and put it between them. "We appear to have plenty of time, I would love to hear your story."

* * *

Daniel hadn't thought about it in years. The Stargates had become a fact of life for him and to think of a less jaded, young, physically weak, and maybe even naïve Daniel of years past. He wondered what would have become of him if things had gone differently. The changes they'd made in the galaxy, the toppling of the Goa'uld, the freedom of the Jaffa, even the Asgard and Ori, what would have become of them all? "Well, it starts a long time ago. In a galaxy far far away."

Teyla rolled her eyes and shook her head idly. "You are _not_ Luke Skywalker."

"Oh you've seen them?" Daniel pouted – he'd thought it was going to be hilarious.

"John has often compared our people."

Daniel laughed, it seemed like such a Sheppard move from what he saw of the man. "So I'm not even Obi Wan?"

Teyla smiled coyly. Daniel braced mentally. "Perhaps in Attack of the Clones."

Daniel made a pensive noise. "Hmm. So a cautious master who manages to get himself into trouble no matter what?" Teyla snickered and shook her head. "Alright alright, I can see that. At least I'll grown into a wise old man." Teyla couldn't resist and laughed out loud, Daniel couldn't help but feel warmed. "Anyways, I guess Sam was Princess Leia and Jack was Han Solo. Teal'c was Chewie, and Jonas was C3PO and R2D2's love child from what I've seen and heard of him…"

**Atlantis Gate Room Balcony**

John stood on the edge of balcony and couldn't shake the feeling. He'd buried it and it had only come out in dreams. Last night had been better – somehow the thought of Sam Carter in bed with him had distracted him, it let him sleep peacefully. Esposito had inadvertently brought it all back like a slap to the face.. This wasn't what was supposed to happen, his family wasn't supposed to break apart like this.

Esposito had made it clear to him. She was staying because she felt like she could make a difference here. Rodney had given her that opportunity. What she didn't know was that Rodney was the one to give them _all _the opportunity. He'd held back the Asurans long enough to keep them all safe – and he'd suffered beyond anyone's belief.

It didn't surprise him that Sam was the one to come find him. Everyone else was busy, everyone else didn't have the same guilt he had. "Hey." Sam took a position near him, staring out into the ocean where coral reefs were nearby and schools of fish swam by the shield. "Hey." A few moments of silence, and Sam broke it with an awed voice. "It's eerily beautiful."

John nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I've only seen it twice. Once when we first came here, and again when we sunk the city to try and escape the Asuran gate beam weapon." He stared out and after a moment pushed ahead. "Esposito joined us. A few others are thinking about it but I doubt they will."

Sam nodded and kept looking at the undersea world outside. "I know, I talked to them both. Esposito told me why she's staying." John knew Sam understood why it had bothered him. Things were happening so fast, he hoped that she had worked past enough of their issues to give him some kind of consolation.

"She's staying because of Rodney. Because Rodney wouldn't send her away."

* * *

John's voice was wavering, and Sam knew that if he didn't have that rock solid psyche, he'd be crying. She knew the two men were close, but it wasn't till now that she realized something. "I miss him, I never thought I'd ever say it but I guess in my own way, I loved him too." She couldn't just _tell_ John that she knew he loved him, it would have been awkward on so many levels.

"You met my real brother, no one else in this city ever has or will, who do you think I'd rather have relied on?"

Sam could see John was hurting bad. She'd lean over and hug him if they weren't already little awkward about that kind of thing. Instead she took his hand on the railing and interlaced her fingers. Just to let him know she was there.

John squeezed back, it took him more than a few moments to recover before Sam said. "Radek says he has something important to tell us… Larrin and Marks are waiting."

John nodded and blew a long sigh. He rubbed his face and then turned. Sam noted with a small sense of sympathy that even though he wasn't crying, his eyes were definitely bloodshot.

**Atlantis, Radek's Lab**

"You've got to be kidding."

Radek shook his head, Mila to the side looked pretty depressed as well. "No, we have run every simulation we could think of. We need sixty five percent of the energy from the shields in order to power the wormhole drive in addition to the ZPM's full output."

Sam found it easy to believe. The maths behind something like the Wormhole Drive was extreme. Larrin shook her head idly and groaned. "So the city'll only have thirty five percent power to the shields? How the hell are we supposed to hold them off long enough _especially_ if they have that Superhive?"

Mila shook her head and sighed. "You don't get it, The shields will be just as strong as ever, but they'll only cover the main tower and a few of the side towers. Atlantis's shield works differently than ours, and we can't hook our generators up to the shield because they can't put out enough power to keep them up."

Sam winced and sighed. "She's right, the rate of flow from even a dozen generators doesn't match a ZPM. The generators can't produce enough power fast enough to keep the shield up with no incoming fire, let alone that Superhive."

John raised his eyebrows. He could see the look on Sam's face and understood. "Wait, you mean that once you start the Wormhole Drive up, more than half the city'll be exposed?"

Sam nodded, her throat suddenly becoming very dry. "The Piers, including some of the central towers would be exposed to space. We can fit everyone in the main towers, but we'd have no protection for the rest of the city."

John rubbed his forehead and leaned back on a table. Sam knew he was probably going through every last possible idea he had – not that he had many left after this coup.

Sam closed her eyes and thought about every possible solution. If you eliminate the impossible, whatever's left, however improbable has to work. "We could try and distract them with your ships, Set them on Autopilot."

Larrin grimaced and cursed under her breath. "Those hives would tear through them like a plasma torch through flesh, they'd probably just ignore them actually and go straight for the city."

"Right." Sam winced, there had to be a way. "Maybe we can fire off what nukes we have, give us some cover while we spool the drive up." she turned to Radek. "How long would it take for the Wormhole Drive to activate?"

Radek narrowed his eyes and looked to Mila, they both nodded gently concurring with some unspoken communication. "Once Atlantis reaches a stable orbit, we would need to divert all power except for life support and the small bit of shielding left to the drive. It will take approximately three minutes in total once we reach orbit."

"Four minutes to reach orbit, that means seven minutes we're a target." John stated it as fact, something everyone was worried about. "That's too long. Even if we fire every last drone we had the city would get torn apart. Can't we extend the Traveler ships shielding or something? Come on! Star Trek did it!"

Sam palmed her forehead _Dammit john, not funny._ It had been awhile since someone compared them to Star Trek and it was always annoying. "Theoretically yes, practically? It would only cover the piers with a minute amount of shielding compared to Atlantis's shield. The Wraith would likely target exposed areas to try and disrupt the power grid."

John curled his fists and hammered on the tablet in frustration. Sam could see he was really hammering against physics. "There's gotta be a way, we've got to hold them off for seven minutes. There are twelve hives and a bunch of cruisers." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's too bad Daedalus is out of commission, you know, give them something to shoot at."

Sam had wondered why John made such a good XO during their time together. Only now did it finally hit her like a bag of hammers. He was inadvertently a lunatic genius. "Wait, there _is_ something, or rather some_one_ they can shoot at." her eyes widened as she looked to Marks who remained silent off to the side.

John looked at her for a moment, he could see the insanity in her eyes. Sam could see as he put two and two together and suddenly yelled "Yes! You're a _freakin'_ _genius!_"

The others in the room were surprised by his sudden excitement, Sam simply laughed at herself. "Only if it works, we'll need to-"

"It's already working. We had to keep in contact with Daedalus."

"We can only hope they get here in time." Sam added, things were clicking into place and chaos theory began to spark in her mind.

"Whoa whoa whoa…" Larrin cut in, obviously Sam and John's ability to think alike was confusing. "Take a second and depressurize, what the hell are you two talking about?"

Sam looked at John who nodded. Sam turned to Larrin. "The Asurans."

**Atlantis Control Room**

Chuck seemed hesitant to hit the 'Transmit' button. He turned to Sam. "I know we've done some crazy things, but this takes the cake ma'am."

Sam nodded, the renegade crew was behind them and each had voiced concern except for John. "I'm hoping we'll get to eat it too. Go ahead."

Chuck again hesitated. Sam could understand why he was so reluctant. "I just want to be clear, this goes well above and beyond any of my 'this cannot end well' moments. Can I just get that on the record?"

Sam resisted chiding him. He'd helped them through this and joined the renegade crew, so there was obviously going to be a bit of lax chain of command. "I know Chuck. But this is the only way. Please."

Chuck finally hit the button and leaned back. "Okay, it's done. The Asurans will pick up the signal and hopefully be willing to talk." He turned around and looked behind Sam. "I guess in for a penny, in for a pound never really meant more than now."

Sam took a few deep breaths and prepared to negotiate in what was likely the worst position imaginable. John stood behind her and to the right, with Larrin sitting behind them. Major Marks had gone to the Daedalus to sleep for the night. "I appreciate your help Chuck."

Chuck nodded and blew a long sigh. "Yeah, this uh... oh this is deep." It hopefully wouldn't be too long for the Asurans to reply.

"You think they'll respond?" Larrin asked.

Sam shrugged at Larrin's question. "It's worth a try. At least they'll know we're here."

There wasn't much more that could be said. Sam knew this was by far the most insane plan she'd ever cooked up, but there wasn't an option now. To her surprise, a reply began to come in. "We've got contact." Chuck said. "IFF says its an Aurora. Clearing it up."

The screen faded from a static blur into a recognizable face. John audibly gasped and groaned, Sam turned for a moment and realized that John was having something akin to a panic attack and had to make the hard decision to stay and speak to the replicator instead of consoling her friend who left the room. She recognized the face given the reports she'd read. "Oberoth I presume? I don't think we've met."

The Asuran raised an eyebrow in surprise. "No, but I know all I need to know. You are Samantha Carter. Doctor McKay had many rather interesting things to say about you."

Every Atlantean in the room tensed. Sam felt a shiver go down her spine and wanted nothing more than to erase Oberoth line by line. Larrin had moved off after John, obviously worried as much as Sam over his actions. Sam gritted through what she knew had been done to Rodney and spoke tactfully. "Unfortunately I can imagine. But I'm looking past that now. I'm calling you because I want to negotiate."

"There is nothing to discuss." Oberoth spoke harshly. "As long as you remain in control of Atlantis there is a threat of the Wraith overrunning you and spreading."

Sam cocked her head. "Well that's just it. We're under siege as we speak. The Wraith are holding just outside our weapons range. We suspect they're waiting for their Superhive – I hear you've already lost ships to it."

Oberoth narrowed his eyes. "A shame for your people. If the Wraith discover Avalon, it will have to be purged as well."

_Oh shit. _"Do you know where my Home Galaxy is?" Sam tried not to sound too desperate, _please God say no._

Oberoth seemed surprised by her question. "You _are _as bold as Doctor McKay said. No, the Lanteans never saw fit to give us that information." _Oh thank you sweet mother of God. _Sam let the breath she'd been holding out. Chuck gave her a sympathetic smile, "However, if the Wraith find it, we would simply follow them."

Sam sighed and took a few seconds to calm down. Oberoth had legitimately terrified her with his words and now she had to do what they'd planned. "I understand. And it's because of that very reason I'm willing to surrender Atlantis. You've already wiped most of Pegasus clean and we have all that's left."

"Really?" Oberoth asked incredulously.

"Really." Sam tried to sound dejected. This all hinged on the Asurans believing her. "The Wraith are already here, and our one ship was nearly destroyed by their Superhive. We can't fight them anymore."

"You are more reasonable than Doctor Weir." Oberoth mused. "It appears your people are not as barbaric and primitive as I thought. You wish us to come to your rescue and destroy the Wraith surrounding you?"

Sam shrugged. "To be honest, I would imagine your attack codes would compel you to do so, however we're in no condition to resist you either."

"Yet you have stolen Potentia." Oberoth countered. Sam hoped that he didn't know about htat but had prepared nonetheless. "You speak truth that you do not have the power to resist us effectively, but that has not stopped your people in the past.

"We won't resist." Sam explained. "We've lost too much already, and we just want to hold onto the lives we have left."

"Hmm…" Oberoth said. Sam wondered if maybe he mimicked humans just to taunt them "Your actions to save as many as possible would imply you speak truth. But you will have no demands. You will _not_ remain in Pegasus - any chance for the Wraith to spread must be contained."

That was the hint, Sam knew what she needed and goading was all that was left. "I agree. And again, that's why I'm contacting you. We think most of the Wraith left are here anyway, and if you muster your fleet and help us defend the city, we'll give it to you peacefully and never come back."

Oberoth seemed to ponder for a few moments. "What of the stolen Potentia?"

Sam nodded. "I think that's what's keeping the Wraith at bay, but the Superhive is strong enough to take whatever we throw at it."

"Yes. Our scans revealed they also have stolen Potentia. I have 14 capital ships and several smaller craft left. We will come as a unified force to destroy the Wraith and take the city from you. All Lantean and Asuran technology you have usurped will remain here along with your data storage devices. You will _not _keep any of the stolen Potentia."

Sam had expected Oberoth to say as much. Under no other circumstances would she _ever_ agree to such an unfair trade. "Very well, we could use the support as soon as possible."

Oberoth leaned forward. "If any of your people think otherwise. I will think nothing of it to purge you all."

"And I don't care if you kill us all!" Sam screamed – Chuck shirked back at her sudden emotion. "You've already destroyed everything in this galaxy, and I'm _not _going to let that happen to my own. I _won't _let that happen."

Oberoth seemed a bit surprised at her reaction. "I see. You are much stronger than I had anticipated. I will honor my word if you will honor yours. You will be free to return tor your galaxy, under my conditions. Any deception on your part will result in your deaths."

The screen turned off, and Sam breathed a huge sigh of relief. The Auroras would arrive within the day, hopefully before the Superhive. Chuck leaned over to look her in the face as she breathed heavily. "Ma-'m?"

Sam waved his concern off. Truth be told she felt like puking, but she couldn't let anyone see her like that. "I'm good, I'm good, just. I just never thought I'd ever have to say that." _Not again._ Major Marks had been there with her staring down the barrel of several Ori Pulse weapons. Surrender wasn't a word that she liked to use often.

Chuck looked confused, but he pushed past it. "Guess we're really between a rock and a hard place now."

Sam laughed at his analogy and took a deep calming breath. "Good thing we have a wormhole drive or we'd be screwed."

* * *

,Larrin gave John's shoulder a squeeze and then wrapped an arm around him. The Balcony was a private place, but Sam had been able to guess he'd head here.

Sam watched as Larrin rubbed John's back trying to console him. It wasn't long ago that she was in the same position, and even though she rationally knew it was illogical, Sam still felt a little jealousy that John was drawing comfort from Larrin. The awkwardness aside, Sam wasn't really sure _where_ her life was heading, After learning about Chuck and Larrin, she'd asked Reyna the Traveler Doctor about Traveler culture and etiquette when it came to that kind of thing. Sam had tried to broach the subject softly and Reyna had just laughed.

The Travelers saw sex as just a physical thing as normal as a hug. Reyna made it clear that even though it was a more liberal culture, only people who spent a lot of time together ever got comfortable enough to have sex without the aspects of a relationship. Sam saw the whole 'friends with benefits' thing they had in a new light once she let go of her own personal morals.

The population control and lack of space on their ships made it make perfect sense. Sex wasn't about propagating the species, it was more for comfort, entertainment, and something to keep occupied in the deep recesses of space. Reyna had calmly told a bewildered Sam that she herself had platonic sexual relationships with three different men, but all were men that she'd known her whole life and trusted with that same life. Sam felt squicked out, but Daniel had confirmed to her that it was just a cultural norm for the Travelers.

Sam didn't know what to think after that. The Traveler culture was so different and… and she couldn't help but think of how liberating it might be. But her rational mind wouldn't give in, and Sam knew that even though it was intriguing, she would never think like that.

But John?

She'd spent the next few hours wandering around the strangely busy yet empty city. Busy with Travelers laying down power cables and making patches to improve the grid for the Wormhole Drive, but empty of anyone she knew. She couldn't even think of sleep, all it meant was time alone with her thoughts. Sam wanted company, so she'd silently watched different people in different situations.

Radek and Mila were still in the ZPM room tweaking everything they could. The young Traveler girl had smiled on seeing her and quickly brought Sam up to speed on the situation. Sam appreciated the innocence the girl had despite everything and wished she could be like her again. The world around her had grown dark and dreary- Mila's excited behavior was like a flicker of hope.

Next she visited the infirmary, and found Daniel and Teyla in the middle of a storytelling. She couldn't help but laugh as Daniel mentioned something about finding Cameron with no pants on in a motel. Daniel was by _far _the person she most appreciated being here. She wished him nothing but the best and thanked him for all the support he'd given her. Sam had then teased Daniel about a similar incident in Jack's office after defeating the Replicators. Teyla had laughed at Daniel's expense, though he didn't mind,

Teyla had warmed to Sam since the beginning of her tour here. Perhaps the fact that Sam had gone against her orders, or made all the effort she could to save as many as possible had won her over. Whatever it was, Teyla smiled and gave Sam a close up look of her new son and a hug before she left. Sam was in awe at her choice of names, something she felt Rodney would have been proud of.

Sam considered going to the detainee tower, but knew it would only depress her further. There was only one place left to go.

Sam had no idea whether or not John was alone in his quarters. For all Sam knew, she was about to interrupt John in the middle of something awkward and she'd need some serious brain bleach after. Despite that, she wanted to talk to John. He'd run off after their call to the Asurans and they only had 12 hours before they'd send everyone else home.

The doorbell sounded once, and it wasn't long before John appeared at the door. His eyes were bloodshot and he was still in his uniform. He looked at Sam in surprise, but it was obvious he was glad to see her.

Sam kept her voice soft, and felt relief that he was alone. "Hey, I uh, I wanted to see how you're doing. You kinda ran off." John remained silent, just staring back at her. His gaze was so powerful that Sam had to keep talking to keep from panicking. "It uh, it worked. Chuck estimates sixteen hours for the Asurans to arrive. My best estimates are the Superhive will be right on their heels to repair from the damage they did to it." Sam knew she could have just radioed this all to him, but she wanted to see him.

John nodded softly. He looked relieved that their insane plan appeared to be working. He opened his mouth but then shut it

"You wanna talk?" Sam asked.

John rubbed his head and nodded. He turned and walked inside so Sam followed. He sat on his bed and spoke quietly. "It's… I can't stop thinking about it. It's like there's this rat inside my brain and it's gnawing on one small little piece. I can't get rid of it but I can't let it go either."

The lights were off, but the strange blue glow of the shields behind by his window was more than enough light to see. Sam wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry John. I.. I wish I could help."

Before Sam could really react he took her hand and squeezed. If they were anywhere else, Sam wouldn't have felt awkward, but this _was _his bed. Sam could feel him trembling, and hated that she already knew what he wanted. _"Don't go."_

Sam bit the insides of her lips. After everything that had happened in the last two days, this was the last thing she needed to worry about. "I… I don't know if I should."

"I…" John started. He bowed his head and brought her hand up his face. Sam realized that he wasn't being dramatic, he legitimately wanted comfort. "I can't sleep, Sam. It keeps coming up. Last night… I…" He laughed softly, almost ridiculously.

Sam for that matter knew exactly what he meant, and decided to just say it and get it over with. "It's a distraction." Sam sighed. "I can't sleep either, but you're right. This… whatever we've got is enough of a distraction. Maybe… maybe you've got a point."

John said nothing, and instead pulled Sam closer. Sam accepted his hug, but was a little surprised when he felt his hands go up and down her back. She gasped softly and just shut her mouth. Distraction was an understatement. She hugged John back and let him pull her down into the bed in a cuddle.

. "Okay." Sam said, just needing to clear the air. "I'll stay."

John murmured and shifted around. Sam kicked off her boots and tried to get comfortable. This wasn't like the last night, and a lot of the awkwardness was gone.

That's when Sam realized that the comfort wasn't what she wanted. John seemed to feel the same as he kept shifting around – restless and unable to sleep. Sam hated herself as she realized _why _they couldn't. She took a few moments to buck up the courage and then went for it.

John didn't resist as she pulled his head into the kiss. He didn't go along with it either. Sam stopped – the awkwardness was back in full force. _Perfect._

"_Sam, what are…_"

Sam shushed him, "Quiet… just…" She couldn't finish it. John shifted uncomfortably, just like he had last night.

"I…" John's hand came up and held her shoulder – ready to push her off. "No offense but…"

"_No,_no I'm not…" Sam laughed to herself and buried her head into his chest. She figured talking it out might help. "Yes… weird. Kinka squicky but, and I'm not just, _god_. I just want to forget. I need a _distraction_. Something I…"

"More than out there?" John suggested. Sam sighed – John understood. "I, don't. I mean, I, don't get me wrong, I'm…"

Sam focused, this was perfect – worse than _anything_ in highschool. "I'm not either. I mean, I guess I just want you to distract me." She shook her head. "No that came out wrong. I don't want that. I mean…" she laughed and pulled herself up. This was ridiculous beyond belief. "Maybe I do."

John stayed quiet. Sam wondered if maybe he regretted his decision to ask her to stay. Sam needed this, she needed this to be worse than anything. John then pulled her closer and kissed her back.

Sam sighed softly, and let her body relax onto his. It felt so wrong, sure she'd fantasized a bit just like any normal human would, but actually acting on it? This wasn't real, Sam just felt squicky and uncomfortable. But that's what she wanted – a solid eight hours where the one thing on her mind as she dreamt was the awkwardness of this situation, rather than the grief and pain of what was outside. So she let his hands wander, and she herself did a little exploring.

* * *

Sam woke with a strange trembling sensation, her eyes felt heavy as if she hadn't slept enough. Taking a look at the glowing clock on a nightstand nearby, she could see that it had only been about four hours. What freaked her out was the sensation of skin against her. Not her neck or hands, It was her _chest. _She gasped soflty as she realized they were naked from the top up. John had his arms wrapped around her and held her close – It all flooded back to Sam, she'd gone this far before she'd put a stop to it.

She'd wanted awkward, and this certainly hit the nail on the head. She calmed down and realized that John was awake as well, his breathing erratic. "_John._" No reply. _"John are you okay?"_

"Everything's wrong."

Sam was a little surprised at his quick reply. She tried to look past their intimate position, instead focusing on what he said. She almost felt like turning into a black hole just to fall into herself.. "I know what you mean."

John sighed and rubbed his face against Sam's forehead. She closed her eyes and focused. "No, not _everything._"

"What is it?" To her surprise, John began to snake his arm around her, but just as quickly he tensed as if scared. "What's wrong?"

John took long controlling breathes even as he now trembled slightly. _"I…I-I-I don't think I love you, Sam."_

Sam winced hard – this was _not _what she had intended. "John, this… this isn't what I meant. This, I'm sorry John I don't want you to get the wrong idea."

"I'm not. I… I know what you said. I just can't… I can't figure out what I'm feeling."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked – this _had_ to be clear. That was the only way this would work.

"I…I don't know what I feel about you." John insisted. "I need you to know that."

"I don't understand._" _Sam wanted to pull away now, but even in this strange shield-light , she didn't want to expose herself to him. "John you're not making any sense."

"I have to tell you this." John insisted and held her tightly – Sam didn't think she could break free without hurting John. "You _have _to know."

Sam closed her eyes and braced herself. Gods knew what John was going to say. "_Okay, okay…"_

John blew a hard breath and whispered. "_You know what it's like to share with an ascended. Rodney didn't share himself, but he showed me. He let me __feel__ what he felt…" _Sam wondered what that had to do with anything. _"...everything."_

Sam didn't know what to think until it dawned on her. "Oh. _Oh god."_ She let go of John and pulled back a bit. Panic gripped her throat, she didn't care that she wasn't wearing a shirt anymore. This was _too _awkward. _Oh shit. Shit-shit-shit… _ "_No." _Sam said firmly. "No, John."

"I don't know." John muttered. "And that's why you need to know."

Sam found herself in the strangest position ever. Never in her imagination would this scenario have ever come up. "No no no… This isn't that. You…" Sam winced, _Insane Troll Logic. _"You… I… God, I." Sam winced and realized there was only one way. "I… I don't believe you. You've been too nice to me, _You, _John Sheppard, _care_ about me. _That's _why we're here. Whether you realize it or not, on some level you do love me." She rubbed her face. What world had she found herself in where admitting this was better than facing the Wraith and Asurans _at the same time? _"And… I guess I love you. At least to some degree."

Silence. Sam used her arms to cover herself as she took hold of John's shoulders. This was _insane._ She forced herself to keep talking. "John… Rodney didn't give me an unforgettable night because he knew we'd never see Earth again. Rodney didn't help me keep these people on the base when the IOA wanted to get rid of them. Rodney didn't drink beer and talk with me when I really needed a friend."

John bowed his head and nuzzled Sam. All the times he showed strength – Sam realized that she was the only one who ever saw his weak moments. Everything she said was true. "I-I don't know where I end and he starts. I…" John gulped hard and his hand came up to Sam's face. "_I do care about you. A hell of a lot more than I should. I thought I knew what that meant but…"_

Sighing, Sam shook her head _"I care about you too. I wouldn't be here if I didn't but…"_

Silence again. Sam let herself fall into him and shifted into a comfortable position. John shifted back and tried to get up. "I-I should go, I'm-I'm not _comfortable_."

Sam held him in place, this _wasn't _going to end like that. "No. you _are _comfortable." Sam paused for a moment. "_T__hat's the problem._"

John took a deep breath and nodded. Sam knew what he felt and a part of her wanted to run away too. "_Y__eah, yeah that's the problem alright…" _

John pulled her back towards him. Sam couldn't fight him as he pressed his lips to hers, his hands slipping around her pressing their bodies together. Sam reciprocated and let her mind wander. Neither said anything else as sleep overtook them once more – only a few more hours.

**June 10****th, ****2008**

**Atlantis Control Room**

"Dial the gate, Chuck."

Chuck tapped the buttons and dialed a direct wormhole to the SGC. Sam wondered why he did it, certainly their chain of command had been broken under the circumstances. The line of prisoners in the gateroom was all the indication they needed. Sam found that things were easier now. The last two days of utter stress and uncertainty were gone. Now there was resolution, now there was purpose. Sam knew what she had to do.

Chuck monitored the status of the wormhole as it bridged the gap between their galaxies and ate up a small amount of the power from their three ZPMs. Sam waited until Chuck announced. "Wormhole established, receiving radio signals."

Sam took a second to pray for absolution and then said. "Open a channel." A click confirmed it, and Sam spoke eloquently and with strength. "This is Colonel Samantha Carter from Atlantis calling the SGC. Do you read?"

A few seconds passed and Chuck said. "They read, requesting video conference. Probably getting General Landry."

Sam nodded and motioned to Larrin who stood by the stairs to the gate room. The Traveler Woman nodded and gave quiet orders to her men as Sam waited patiently.

A few seconds passed, and General Landry's face appeared on the screen before her. "Colonel Carter. This is a bit of a surprise. Is there an issue you need assistance with?"

Sam decided that it would be best to get it over quickly, so she remained as tactful as possible. "Yes sir. We are evacuating Atlantis. I've got the first group waiting to go through."

Landry's eyes went wide. "What? Evacuating? What's going on there?"

"The Wraith have created a new Hive. It has enough destructive potential to match Atlantis and has crippled the Daedalus. We stand no chance against it, and from what we've seen, neither do the Asurans." Sam explained. She tried to remain professional. "Our theory is they plan to use it to overrun the city and find the Milky Way's location."

"My god." Landry's eyes became cold and after a moment he turned to Walter sitting next to him. "Open the Iris, let them through." He turned back to Sam. "What are your plans for the refugees and the Travelers? I'm under strict IOA orders not to let anyone but people Woolsey clears through. Where is he?"

Sam tightened her features and bowed her head. "Before we were engaged by the Wraith, Daedalus and the Travelers were successful in stealing three ZPMs from the Asurans. We're going to be taking off to escape the Wraith and Asurans."

Landry narrowed his eyes examining her. "Is that all? That doesn't merit an evacuation."

"No sir." Sam smiled just a bit – Landry had gotten to know her in their time at the SGC and could tell she wasn't saying everything. "You can ask the men and women coming through now for the details, but I as well as certain members of this expedition have decided to stay and try and safeguard Atlantis."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Landry asked without hesitation.

"We are taking the city and with the help of the Travelers, we're leaving Pegasus. _All of us._"

Landry didn't show much surprise. He just nodded idly.. "I assume you're not coming to the Milky Way? The IOA has been very clear about that."

"Yes, sir." Sam explained, in the background she could see SGC personnel scrambling about – the news was starting to sprea. "There's too much risk that the Wraith will be able to track us. We do not know the full capabilities of the Wraith Superhive and I cannot risk it following us."

General Landry ground his teeth. "That's not an answer Carter. Where's Woolsey? What does he think about this?"

"Mr. Woolsey…" Sam had to struggle not to curse his name out loud. He'd been locked away privately, only bathroom breaks and meals as a comfort. "… is not in favor of this plan. But he no longer holds any authority on this base. He will be sent along shortly."

On General Landry's side, Major Teldy appeared from the side with a half scowl. She quietly whispered into the General's ear whose eyes opened wide as the seconds passed. It took several seconds for him to turn to the screen with narrow eyes. "Colonel Carter?"

"Yes, sir."

Landry'svoice had turned into a harsh sarcasm. "I think you need to t explain why Major Teldy is under the impression that Colonel Sheppard and yourself have orchestrated a coup and taken over the city?"

Sam took a second to herself. _Crunch time. _"No sir, I don't feel I need to explain myself."

**Atlantis, Chair Room**

"Okay, So you _did_ go with my idea?"

Mila shook her hand in front of her face in a _sorta_ gesture. John wondered where she'd picked up the earth gesture. "Kinda, we've been up all night hooking our generators to our ships shield emitters as well as directly to the city's working plasma defense batteries."

John raised an eyebrow. "Plasma defense batteries?"

Zelenka was over at the other side of the chair room working on some cabling. He shrugged and spoke though he looked exhausted. "Yes Colonel, they were damaged from when we came here and even if they weren't, we were never able to properly use them as they took up too much power. Their range in atmosphere is also quite limited. The Travelers were able to repair a few of them using spare parts from their Aurora. You'll have access to them just as you do the Drone Launchers."

John had gotten past all his insecurities about doing this. Sam was right, the awkwardness and insecurity of sleeping together _far _outweighed this. "Cool."

Zelnka rolled his eyes and mumbled something in Czech. Mila snickered and rubbed her face. "It _is _cool. And if you'll actually sit down for a minute?"

John acquiesced and sat down on the ancient control chair. Instantly he could feel two new systems popping up in the interface. "_Whoa_. Okay. I'm guessing those're the new turrets you've activated and-" He mentally accessed the new system, John suddenly got a slight pain in the side of his head and let go of the interface as he flinched. "_Ach_…_!" _He shook it off, noticing Mila's smile at his momentary pain. "_Ow. _That's got a kick to it."

Mila nodded and made some notes on the tablet she had. "Yeah, that's the wormhole drive. Radek said it should feel…" She furrowed her brow to Radek off to the side. "What'd you say? Like an _elle-funt_ stepped into your head?"

John scoffed at the analogy, though apt it was. "_Elephant._ And yeah, felt something like that." He winced and shook his head into clarity. "The ZPMs are working fine, but I noticed only the main towers are getting power. I'm gonna guess that's on purpose?"

Zelenka nodded and squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Yes yes, in preparation for wormhole drive we've shut off power to all systems but lifesupport and shielding. That has raised our shield strength to fourty percent. In conjunction with the ships overcharged emitters, eighty five percent of the city will be protected from the top, while only the city's shield will protect the bottom."

"Better than nothing I suppose." John mused. All they were waiting on now was the Asurans to arrive – mere hours remained. "Now fill me in on this wormhole drive, how do I… _activate it?"_

**Atlantis Brig**

"So, you're happy with this?"

Kevin didn't meet his former commander's gaze. Coming to let him out of the brig wasn't something he ever felt he'd ever need to do. "Of course not, but you know what leaving would mean."

Caldwell sighed. Kevin didn't see the need to be armed so he'd come on his own. The Travelers were al laround anyways, so Caldwell knew not to do anything. "Of course I do. But I hope you realize you're ruining my command."

Kevin sighed. He pulled a letter out from his pocket and handed it to Caldwell. "There's my letter of resignation. It explains everything, and says you're the best Commander I've had, and cites examples. Also recommends you for Phoenix once it's built too."

Caldwell looked at the letter and didn't take it. Kevin could feel the rejection. "That supposed to make it even?"

Kevin stared back – this wasn't the kind of argument he wanted. "Not even slightly. But I don't have the clout to argue with the IOA. We might be running, but I'm trusting _you_ to fight for us too."

"What?" Caldwell furrowed his brow in confusion. He still refused to come out of the brig.

Kevin nodded and handed Caldwell the letter again. "Colonel Carter is the only one going who would have had any real clout on her own. We both know why she can't go back, there's nothing left for her in the SGC. We're leaving it to you, Lorne, Teldy. You need to fight to make sure this never happens again – get the message through.."

Caldwell sighed and rubbed his forehead. Kevin knew that despite his hardass exterior, the Colonel felt the same as he did. It took a few seconds for Caldwell to reply. "You really think I'm the best commander you've had?"

Kevin nodded "You're the only one left, sir." Kevin didn't mean to detract the others, but he needed to make it clear. "You may not be joining us, but I doubt Ellis would have bent the rules and helped Carter save people when the IOA wanted us to stay at Atlantis."

"Yeah well…" Caldwell shifted uncomfortably. "Like it or not, I am human." He shook his head. "What are your plans?"

Kevin shrugged, his played with the letter in his hands. "Daedalus is crippled, figured I'll spend the rest of my life taking care of her. If we ever make it back to Earth she'll be all yours again."

"_If?_ Exactly where are you going?" Caldwell asked – Kevin could tell he wanted to get more information. No harm teasing him.

Kevin wasn't about to give him specifics though. "You know how you hated even three weeks in the void? Chess and treadmill all day?"

"Yeah?"

"Imagine two years. " Kevin began, and then smiled. "_With_ a ZPM."

Caldwell's eyes went wide. "_How the hell_ are you going to do that?"

Kevin motioned with his head. This was probably the last conversation he'd have with Caldwell and he wanted it to be good. "You'll find out anyway, so I might as well tell you what I can before we send you back."

"What? _Now?_ You're going to send us back _now?_"

Kevin nodded and kept motioning for Caldwell to follow. The Colonel finally began to move.. "Yeah, We're taking off in a few hours and I wanted to give you a quick pitstop."

"Where?"

A smile crossed Kevin's face, one of the nicer things he'd get to do in the next few days. "Daedalus, I'm sure you've got stuff in your quarters you don't want to lose."

Caldwell sighed as he left the brig and shook his head. Kevin knew he'd gotten through once the Colonel took the letter in his hands.

**Atlantis, Control Room**

"We're sending the next group through." Sam announced, a few more minutes for this dial. "Major Lorne is among them and has our last supply run to you."

Sam was trying to keep things civil. The less she looked like a raving mad lunatic, the more likely the IOA would have problems attacking her actions and those who were formerly under her command. Landry on the other end didn't look that pleased. "I'm not going to bother trying to convince you to come back, but you need to know that this is going to be a _very_ black mark on the Air Force."

Sam sighed and nodded to the screen. "I know, but this is something I have to do. Have you gone over the list of people staying?"

"Yes Carter, and I have to say I'm a little surprised. I know the 304 program will miss Major Marks."

Sam bit her lips – some of the people staying would have proven their worth in Earth's defense if it came down to it. "With the data Doctor Jackson has sent back, you should be able to increase the-"

"Without _you_ here," Landry interrupted. "I don't think anyone on the planet is going to understand it."

Sam smiled despite herself. Landry understood – that meant so much to her.

* * *

John watched in the gateroom as the third group of Atlantis Personnel were being sent through, Major Lorne was at the rear of the pack, his tacvest gone and only BDU's keeping him military looking. John waved to the Travelers guarding the procession to stop and he motioned Lorne to walk up to him. "Major!"

Lorne stopped and after a moment of hesitation looked at John. John held a metal case – something he wanted to make sure got to the right hands. "What do you want?" Lorne asked with just a bit of spite.

John noted that he didn't use the honorific, but it wasn't like he expected it anymore. "You missed me twice Major." He made sure to keep his voice low – so others wouldn't hear them. Once I can chalk up to shock. Twice is you missed on purpose."

Lorne shifted uncomfortably, his gaze back towards the gate. John could tell he didn't want to talk about it – this was their last conversation after all. "Is that all?"

John didn't want it to end like this. He _needed _to get through to him. "No, I've got a ZPM here I want you to give to General Landry. But if you want it, there's something you need to do for me."

Lorne scoffed and smiled incredulously "Really? And what would that be?"

"I want you to hit me." John said. "Hit me hard enough I'll bleed – show them you really did fight for this."

"Sir? Wha…?" Lorne replied – all hostility was gone, John was amused how he fell back on training and called him 'sir.' "The hell is that going to accomplish?"

John sighed and shook his head. "Think Major. You missed me _twice. _You think those Marines aren't going to let them know? You think the IOA isn't going to find out? They'll bury you in so much court-martial you'll be lucky to get a job flying tourists. They think you fought me tooth and nail and you've got a chance. Gotta be real though, I've seen CSI." It was a parting gift, something John knew was ridiculous but in the end, would serve Lorne well. "I still need you to fight for these people. I want you to have the best chance."

Lorne didn't seem comfortable with what John was saying. John understood – Lorne agreed with his morals but not his methods. That's why John came up with this – not even Sam knew. Lorne still resisted. "Like you care anymore."

John groaned angrily and hissed. "Enough bullshit, Evan. I understand, you won't leave Earth, but you're not a monster." John decided to get personal. "Or maybe I had you wrong. Maybe you're just an inhuman bastard." Lorne narrowed his eyes – John was having the effect he wanted. "What's the matter? Don't tell me you're just a bad shot."

John felt déjà vu as Lorne's hand came up in a palmstrike across his jaw – not hard enough to break it, but his teeth cut into the inside of his lips. He staggered back from the hit and shook his head, wiping his mouth with his hand and coming away with blood. _Goddamn I need a new job. _John looked at Lorne – his arm was dotted with bloody spray from his mouth.

Both Travelers and the few Atlantis personnel were shocked. John held up a hand and barked. "Hold your fire!" He needed Lorne awake, which given his face of sad sincerity told John he'd done it. The Travelers listened and continued to force the loyalist crew off and through the Stargate. They'd serve as good witnesses. John rubbed his jaw. "Thanks, last thing I needed was a concussion."

Lorne smiled and extended his hand – the same one he'd just hit John with. John accepted it – his blood smearing between them. "I'm sorry John. I hope you guys make it, and I want you to know it's been an honor to serve with you." He looked back to the Stargate – it was still open and he was the last one left to go through. "Those people… they're going to need someone to deal with the IOA. Someone the IOA will listen to."

John let go, and then handed Lorne the case. "I know. I'm trusting you to succeed. Anything I can do before you go?"

Lorne accepted the case with the ZPM in it, he looked at his hand now covered with John's blood "..Yeah." He chuckled. "You let Cadman know I'll miss her loony ass."

John started chuckling. "Will do." He raised his hand and gave Lorne a full salute.

Lorne returned the salute, and within moments vanished into the event horizon. John wondered if he'd ever see him again in this life.

**Atlantis Main Tower, Secluded Storage Room.**

Laura was willing to follow pretty much any order Sheppard or Carter gave her now. Within certain limits though, but she trusted them not to push it. _This_ was certainly one order she enjoyed. "Cheer up _Dick_! Orders are you get to go home! You should thank Carter and Sheppard! I'd have tossed you out to the fishies!" She yelled it _much _louder than she had to, but this was too priceless to let pass by.

Woolsey looked like hell, unshaven and still disheveled from two days of seclusion in this much too small room. He looked up and shook his head. "So you're my executioner?"

Laura rolled her eyes and motioned for the Travelers behind her to move in. "Come on boys, Take him."

The burly looking guards moved in and quickly grabbed a hold of the politician, Once he was on his feet, he slapped them away and tried to make himself look presentable. "I can walk thank you very much. Give me at least a bit of dignity" He was obviously still angry.

Larrin was behind Laura with a coy smile – clearly she was enjoying this as much as Laura. "You stupid bald headed _cacare-fron. _You should fall down and worship Sheppard. He talked me out of what I wanted to do to you." She narrowed her eyes. "Hint, It involves a Wraith, an oxygen mask, and an airlock."

Laura turned to Larrin in surprise – okay maybe she was angry, but not _that _angry. Woolsey didn't seem afraid and instead scoffed. "So Captain, this who you'd rather follow?"

Laura looked at Larrin who smiled faintly – _Oh she's just joking. Well… sorta._ She turned back to Woolsey and motioned. "Start walking before I start thinking like her."

Woolsey did as he was told and walked ahead of them. Laura turned to Larrin who snickered and winked at Laura. _Phew. She was joking. _When they neared the corner at the end of the hallway, Larrin's somewhat pointed boot _gently_ tapped Woolsey on the behind drawing a light yelp from him. "Next time it'll hit harder and sharper, _Move! Left!"_

Woolsey relented and moved ahead eyes forward with his hands out to the side in surrender. Laura had no real course in mind – this was just a little fun before sending him up to Sheppard and Carter. Larrin was all for it as well as they spent a good ten minutes just leading him around the tower – slowly getting closer and closer to the gate room. Eventually, Laura had enough of the suspense and decided to actually take him to his destination. Larrin excused herself as they walked in and moved out to the chair room. Laura pointed up at Carter's office and muttered. "Move, they want to talk."

Woolsey didn't say anything and just walked ahead – his suit was dirty and unkempt, but at least he looked everyone in the face. More than a few people looked back at him in contempt. Laura certainly did. When they reached the office upstairs Laura shoved Woolsey inside. She nodded to Sheppard and Carter who waited with serious expressions. Laura on the other hand moved back to the control room and told Chuck to get his camera ready.

* * *

John made sure his particle magnum was in plain sight. He'd also made sure it was the same one he'd used on Woolsey before. Sam sat at her desk with one of her own – Woolsey didn't seem intimidated at all despite his rough looking condition. John hissed as the door closed. "I'd say welcome, but I looked it up and the meaning isn't what I want to say at all."

Woolsey raised an eyebrow to John as he stood in front of them. "I hope you realize that by assaulting me and leading this mutiny, that you will never set foot on Earth again unless it's in handcuffs."

John shook his head and motioned for Woolsey to sit. Sam had agreed to let him take charge on this conversation. "You just don't get it do you? Okay, you want to talk Earth? The last time I was on Earth, you people used me as a _scapegoat. _I hardly had anything left back there anyway, and after that, I made damn sure even that was over with." He gave Sam a silent look and lost a bit of his smile. "Don't be stupid. I'm not going to kill you. In fact, I want you to do us a favor."

Woolsey gave them both a disbelieving look. "Really? You expect me to comply with your demands? Once I get back, I have no doubt that Earth will send Odyssey to retake the city from you."

Sam smiled and leaned forward. "That's what we want to tell you, Don't bother. In fact, you'll be putting _more _lives at risk if you do. One of two things is going to happen in the next eight hours. Either we're all going to die and no one will ever know how, or we'll be more than half a million light years away."

Woolsey seemed to take a moment to consider Sam's words before speaking. "Seeing as it takes three and a half weeks to travel three million light years, forgive me if I'm a little skeptical."

"It doesn't matter if you believe us or not." John replied. "That's what I want you to understand, the IOA doesn't _get _what goes on out here. My own extreme actions are in _response_ to the IOA's."

Sam seemed more reserved as she sat behind her desk. "We brought you here so we could ask you a very direct question, and I expect a very direct answer."

Woolsey's eyebrows did more talking that he did. John noticed his curiosity pique. "Very well, since you two are the only ones who seem to have retained any sense of civility I'll answer one question."

John took a deep breath and looked to Sam. They'd decided that she would ask so Woolsey would be more willing to listen. Sam cleared her throat and made it quick. "My question is this, do you personally agree with the IOA's orders to evacuate the refugees to the mainland and only allow the Traveler Engineers and Command staff to Earth?"

Woolsey took a few moments to himself, he looked to both John and Sam and after a full five seconds replied tersely. "Of course not."

John groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "Then _why_ for the love of _Christ _did you order us to do _just that?_"

"Because while I may not _agree_ with everything the IOA says." Woolsey replied tersely. "They're still the best government and control we have for this program." He shook his head and sighed. "The Military is not equipped to handle the situations the SGC has encountered. The politics of the Milky Way are better kept to people with experience in management and finance. It is not a perfect system but it is better than using violence as our only recourse."

Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You know, I believed that for the longest time. I'm not a violent person at heart, but I'll defend what I care about. If the IOA hadn't ordered us to send those ZPMs back to Earth, I might be sitting right there with you. But no _bureaucracy _willing to let a galaxy worth of people die because they can't see it first hand is worthy of my loyalty." John looked at Sam and saw the passion in her face. She _meant _every word.

Woolsey remained silent; simply staring back at Sam. John sighed hard through his teeth and added. "Exactly. So what we want you to do is fix that. We want you to help the people who are going back fight to make it a better system. It's the only way you'll be to prevent other people from doing the same thing we just have."

"I… will report on what I've seen." Woolsey said it tactfully, not giving his opinion away one way or the other. John _hated _the politician Woolsey could be.

The conversation was over, and Sam realized it too. "Very well, I guess we can't ask for me." She turned to John. "Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard."

"Yes, Ma'am?" John replied – he'd been looking forward to this for some time now and no matter _how _awkward things were with Sam, he still knew she outranked him in many ways,

Sam stressed her words. "Send this man to where he belongs."

John stood and growled "With pleasure."

Woolsey opened his eyes wide as John gripped onto his clothes and lifted him up. John opened the door with a free hand and dragged Woolsey out. "Calm yourself!"

John ignored Woolsey's pleas. As soon as he crossed the bridge, everyone inside was surprised by how rough he was handling him. He barked at Chuck. "Dial Earth!"

Woolsey struggled just a bit, John made it a point to hold him just high enough that he wouldn't be able to stand properly. John _needed _Woolsey to see how passionate he was about this. He watched the gate wind up and continued pushing Woolsey along towards the stairs. The Travelers around him all hissed and spat at Woolsey – John didn't think one man could garner this much hate, but he was the face of the IOA here. As the gate continued to dial, John let Woolsey go in front – just far enough so the kawoosh wouldn't get him. Woolsey recovered and turned back to John.. "Don't you regret this? You'll never see your home or family again."

"_This __is_ _my home." _John growled loudly, loud enough for everyone to hear. "_These people __are__ my family!."_ John could see the people around him watch in awe. He didn't get this angry often. The Gate whooshed open and John turned back to the control room above them. "Open a channel, Get me General Landry."

It took a few moments, but General Landry's voice came through his radio. "_Colonel Sheppard." _John assumed Chuck let Landry know he wanted to talk._ "You are under direct orders from the President to give yourself and your renegades up. The mitigating circumstances will be taken into consideration."_

John laughed out loud and replied. "I'm sorry, General, but do you honestly think I'm going to believe that after all this_?"_

John could clearly hear Landry's sigh, as well as another person behind him mutter. It sounded like Coolidge. "_If you're going to send people through, go ahead. The Iris is open and we're waiting."_

John turned Woolsey around to face the gate. "One last thing…" John fished out a letter from his pocket and shoved it into Woolsey's suit pocket. "You make sure that gets to General O'Neill. If you really do mean what you've said. You won't let the IOA see it." He let a snort of anger out and growled. "Get the hell out of my home."

Woolsey turned to John. "You're taking a big risk if you want that kept private." He turned and sighed. "I do not condone your actions, but I do understand them. Passions do lead to madness."

John winced – the contents of the letter were meant for General O'Neill, but even if the IOA found out, they wouldn't get to Hoag's Object for 11 years – no way would they use the ZPM to chase Atlantis. Just as Woolsey took a step forward though, John gave in to impulse. He stepped forward as well and gave Woolsey a blunt kick to his rear – sending him toppling over into the gate. It hadn't been hard enough to knock him over and risk injury, but _god _it was satisfying. Be couldn't bring himself to scream. _No, This is Atlantis!_

The Travelers all cheered around him. John wondered if Landry could still hear over the radio. He turned back and looked up to the control room. To his surprise .Cadman and Chuck waved back down to him – a video camera in Chuck's hands.

**Atlantis, Colonel Carter's Office**

"We've got just about everyone through the gate. Only the medical staff and a few techs are left to go." Larrin said. Sam wondered what was going through her mind as she sat on the chair opposite Sam's desk.

Sam nodded and rubbed her hands together. "Guess this is it, huh?"

Larrin nodded back. "Doesn't feel real does it?" She chuckled. "If you'd told me we'd be this close allies six months ago I would have laughed."

A chuckle escaped Sam's mouth. "Doesn't seem real in the slightest." Sam leaned back on the sofa and rubbed her face. She neglected to mention the unreality of waking up next to John _twice _in a row. "…Guess my job is done. Don't really need me anymore."

"Are you kidding me?" Larrin scoffed. "We're nomads. We haven't stayed in a single place in thousands of years. I'm used to telling a few hundred people what to do, not seven thousand." She shook her head. "A lot of my people don't _want_ to leave. I can't take care of this place and neither can any of the rest of our council." Sam opened her eyes wide. "I thought maybe once we were safe my people would want to go back out into space. Guess I was wrong. Only about two thousand want to stay in their ships, the rest want to live in Atlantis."

Sam knew that a few of the refugees wanted to stay if they got away, but the _Travelers?_ "Really?"

"Yep." Larrin sighed. "I'm one of them. If we survive this whole thing, we need a proper order to things. We can run the city mechanically, but we're not use to governing so many people at once. You've been doing it with Sheppard and the others for months now. I want you to stay right where you are."

Sam was dumbfounded. "Really? You, you mean that?"

Larrin nodded again and stretched her neck. "You think I wanna take over? Please, I've got enough issues keeping my people from going off their birth control and making sure they get _some _privacy on our ships. All this space. It's disorienting like you wouldn't believe. Atlantis makes me… " She furrowed her brow and scratcher her head. "Damn… what'd Sheppard call it? _Igoranfobick?_"

Sam winced at her butchery. "_Agora_phobic, Fear of wide open spaces."

Larrin shrugged and took a sip from a bottle on her hip. "Well, I'm not _scared_, but I don't mind telling you that it's damned intimidating."

"Tell me about it, when I got sent here I-" Sam paused, very few people knew about this, and looking up to Larrin realized how much she was coming to trust this woman. "I was pretty intimidated as well. As sad as this sounds, this is my first real command."

Larrin winced. "Ouch. Guess all this happening would have looked bad on Earth." Sam rolled here eyes _No shit Sherlock. _ Larrin handed the bottle to "Here, this'll cheer you up,"

Sam raised an eyebrow as she looked at the bottle. "What is it?"

"Trust me, you'll like it."

"It's not some kind of drug is it?" Sam had to ask. "Not that I don't trust you but we've not seen eye to eye on _every _topic.

Larrin rolled her eyes "Not exactly. A long time ago my people started making this stuff to help cope with compartment sickness. I think Sheppard called it _closetphobia _or something." Sam again winced. The Travelers were going to have a _long _time to learn how to speak 'Earth' and herself the other way around. "Anyways, it's made from the seeds of plants we grow. Reyna says it's our version of your chocolate."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Chocolate?"

"That's what she said."

Sam sniffed the bottle – it certainly smelled like chocolate. She took a sip and instantly the nostalgia hit. It was like drinking a melted dark chocolate bar. She forced the bottle away. _Good god the calories. _"Well." Sam pulled a face as she felt the liquid go down her throat, it seemed to warm the rest of her body. Larrin just smirked at Sam's reaction. "That's one thing I may not miss as much as I thought."

* * *

"You're a pisspoor soldier Sheppard." Caldwell growled but then extended his hand to John as they stood in the gateroom. He was the last officer to go. Marks stood back, watching quietly as Caldwell said his goodbyes. "But you're a damned hero in my eyes. I'm going to fight to make sure this never happens again."

John accepted Caldwell's hand and squeezed hard. They'd never seen eye to eye on everything, but his words reassured John that he'd made the right decision. "Thank you. And I _am_ sorry I'm taking your ship. if there were any chance it could make it back to Earth-"

Caldwell shrugged and shook his head. "Wasn't the same, and it's not like Marks isn't going to take care of her. "He looked back at Marks and nodded. John saw Marks nod back- they'd made their peace. Caldwell continued. "And from what I hear Phoenix is gonna need an experienced Commander"

John smiled and motioned Caldwell to follow him to the gate. There were a few Traveler guards around, but none had weapons drawn. Caldwell was leaving this place in peace. "Guess you don't regret not getting my job now do you?"

Caldwell took a second to look around the gate room, up at the control room and to the window where the sea was visible outside. He smiled ruefully and looked back at John. "Not as much as you think. See you around, Sheppard."

Without another word, he stepped through the puddle back to Earth. John had always wondered if there was any human left inside Caldwell's hardened military exterior. It was oddly heartening to see he'd just proven John wrong.

**Atlantis Infirmary  
****Stasis Room**

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Sam groaned as she sat down on the table. "There's no way?"

Jennifer shook her head. It looked like a night's sleep had done her wonders. "It's too big to fit. Not to mention the power requirements."

Sam felt every guilt trip come back and hit her. _This is so unfair. _"Isn't there a smaller unit?"

Jennifer shook her head and walked up to the stasis unit where Carson stood – frozen. "No. If we take him out he'll die in two days. Probably less to be honest. The SGC doesn't have the laboratories necessary to create a cure for him in that time. Even here in Atlantis I can't guarantee we'd find a cure. He needs something the Wraith were using, just a version with a significantly longer half-life."

Sam sighed heavily and looked to the man she'd never really known but knew by his amazing reputation. "It's not fair. It's not fair that he has to come with us because the damned stasis unit won't fit through the gate."

"It's the only way he'll survive." Jennifer explained. "I've given Reyna all the information on Michael's database. The Travelers have some strange science, but they're good. I have no doubt she'll be able to cure him, but it'll take time."

Sam winced hard. Her fist punched lightly on the ice like structure of the stasis pod chamber, Carson's face frozen inside. As if she didn't have enough guilt on her conscience. "_God__ forgive me…"_

**Atlantis, Control Room**

"This is the last group General." Sam said – there were mere hours to go for the Asurans to arrive and this was likely the last communication they'd ever have with Earth. "Everyone else is staying and have given their letters of resignation in the files we've transmitted along with videos to their next of kin. They were made with the knowledge the IOA will be looking and censoring any sensitive data."

Landry sighed, and he looked up to Sam and John. Sam could see the mixture of pride and disappointment – an odd dichotomy. Coolid beside him looked livid though. "Colonels, I have spoken to the IOA Supreme Council. We are willing to overlook several of your indiscretions given the mitigating circumstances. But this will only happen if you send two of the ZPM's your people have recovered, and leave Atlantis submerged to escape the Wraith. We can dispatch Odyssey immediately to assist in defending the city armed with that ZPM."

Sam couldn't help but scoff at the offer. John did the same and muttered "And the refugees? The Travelers? What about them?"

Coolidge remained calm, his answer smooth. "We can discuss that later. But attempting to run away with the city using a suicidal experiment that even the Ancients abandoned is-"

"Listen to me you slimy son of a bitch." John hissed. Sam said nothing, but felt every word he said. "Unless you let me bring _everyone_ on this base through _right now_. You might as well just forget Atlantis ever existed." John took a breath then looked to Landry. "General, Woolsey asked if I had any regrets. And I do, I regret breaking my oath to the force." He snapped a salute. "_Ow-dah-kays for-too-nah yoo-waht, Uno Ab Alto."_

Landry raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Oddly fitting." He scoffed softly and looked to Coolidge, then to the screen. "My final orders, you give hell to anyone in your way." Coolidge turned to Landry in shock. "Earth'll be here. I promise you."

"General Landry!" Coolidge barked. "How-"

"Shut up!" Landry barked back. Carter smiled and resited laughing out loud. Her time spent with Landry had evidently been well received.

"Thank you, sir. Hopefully we'll see each other again."

"I'm counting on it. Godspeed." With that, Landry leaned forward ignoring the cries from Coolidge beside him. The last image was Coolidge turning red and Landry with a smile on his face.

The signal ended, and Sam motioned for Chuck to shut the gate off. A few moments passed and now the Renegades were alone on Atlantis with the Travelers and Refugees their only companions. Sam took a moment and turned to Chuck. "How much longer until the Asurans get here?"

A few taps of some controls, and the screen changed to a starmap. A large cluster of blips were close to Atlantis "Two hours plus minus out ma'am. Those Hives haven't moved either." He turned in his seat and sighed. "Want me to start a countdown?"

_"No!_ " Sam replied emphatically. She started chuckling mindlessly – this was it, the Air Force was behind her and this was all new unexplored territory. She rubbed her face and then looked to the room where the renegade leaders stood. "I'm guessing everything is already ready?"

Larrin nodded and switched the legs she had crossed as she sat on a console. "My ships are all prepped. We've released the physical grips on the piers and switched to maglock. If they take too much damage they'll detach so if they blow up they won't take the city with em."

Marks was next. "Daedalus is at thirty percent. Hull's not worth speaking of but with a few generators hooked up I've got minimal engines and shields up for the most part. Plasma beams and cannons are down, might get one repaired in time. Railguns on manual and Nukes…" he sighed and scoffed softly. "I've got a small sun's worth, but it'll be useless if Darts just intercept them."

Everyone nodded, and now Sam looked to Radek and Mila who both looked quite tired. "Any luck increasing the shielding?"

Mila shrugged and dropped her head onto Radek's shoulder. Most of the room were a little surprised by the personal move, but Radek didn't seem affected in the slightest. "Nothing worth mentioning. Raddy's done the numbers but if that Superhive shows up we're screwed big time."

Radek nodded in agreement and yawned as he took his glasses off to rub his face. "Yes, with extended shielding from Traveler Crafts and Daedalus, ninety percent of city is covered with at least some shielding. The central tower can survive several barrages, but the twenty or so Traveler ships will only be able to absorb a limited amount of fire."

John sighed and added. "I'll try and use the drones to absorb incoming fire, I doubt the Hives will move close enough but you never know."

Larrin nodded.. "If you're right about the Asurans, I'm more worried they'll mop em up so fast we'll have to deal with _them _instead."

John seemed unafraid. "I doubt they'll shoot first. They want Atlantis because we have the control crystal to go to other galaxies." He raised his eyebrows as if surprised at what he just said. "Uh…"

Sam gave John a strange look. "Where did _that_ come from?"

It took a second for Sam to realize what John had done. He wasn't kidding that he was having trouble separating his thoughts with the wisps he said Rodney had left him. "Uh… look, the point is the Asurans are machines. They'll go for the Wraith before they'll go for us. If that Superhive shows up they'll _definitely_ go for it first." Getting up, suddenly feeling the need to be on his own, John nodded. "I'm gonna see how Ronon and his team are doing, call if you need anything."

John quickly scurried out amidst confused looks from his comrades. Marks furrowed his brow and leaned his head out to look at John walk away hurriedly. "What's up with the Colonel?"

Sam tried to hide her lack of surprise. It was more alarming that John was having more trouble now than he did previously – something was bringing it up. _God I hope it's not me. _"Probably just a little unsettled.

Larrin gave Sam a disbelieving look – Sam could tell she suspected something . She made no mention of it though. "I think we all need to do last minute checks. I'm going to make sure my people are okay." Without another word, Larrin left the control room.

Sam turned to Marks after Larrin left. "You're going to be on Daedalus?"

"Yeah, Katana and a few Travelers are gonna give me a hand. We'll need to feed off Atlantis's sensors since ours are fried though."

Radek poked Mila and she stretched her arms. "Come now, we must prepare hyperdrive generators for wormhole formation."

Mila yawned and groaned dejectedly "Aww, it'll take 5 minutes. Can't I take a nap?"

Sam watched the two other scientifically minded people walk away and turned to Chuck. Other than a few Travelers who said nothing, they were alone. She nodded to Chuck who also looked like he wanted a few moments alone, and walked out towards… nowhere.

**Atlantis, Infirmary**

John had come to the infirmary to find Ronon and Daniel, What he hadn't expected was finding Captain Vega, Lieutenant Drake, and Sergeant Mehra with the two former passed out on a couch. Ronon and Mehra watched over them with Daniel in a wheelchair nearby. "The hell happened to those two?"

Ronon shrugged and poked Dusty. "Dunno. _she_ won't tell me the whole story."

Mehra rolled her eyes and yawned. John noticed Drake had a black eye and Vega had a bruised cheek. "_Nothing!_ I swear, but whoever thought up the ATF must have been crazy."

Daniel chuckled and shook his head. "I know there's a joke there, but looking at those two I'm suddenly quite worried."

Mehra snickered and deadpanned back. "Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms _do not_ mix. Those two are the proof."

Sheppard grimaced – _That doesn't sound good. –_ but kept his voice low. "They're not going to, _regret_ anything… _are they?" _He'd seen it before. _Hell_, _I'm guilty as fuck right now._

Mehra caught on instantly and shook her head vehemently. "_No!_ No sir, Even if they _wanted_ to they'd have been pretty useless. That shivowitz stuff the loot made really packs a punch." She chuckled. "And as you can see, so does the Captain.

"Sluggowhat?" John asked.

Daniel scoffed and made a 'drinky drinky' sign with his right hand. "It's pronounced Slivovitz. It's a Serbian drink. Usually homemade fruit liquor." Daniel sighed. "The sugar is going to give them a _hell _of a hangover."

John sympathized; he'd had some _serious _nights out in his youth, and some of the Pegasus natives made some _delicious _drinks of their own. "How long have they been out? I just saw them a couple hours ago."

Ronon chuckled. "Travelers had to stun them. Dragged them here and tossed em there to sleep it off."

"As if a hangover wasn't bad enough." Mehra said. "That headache is gonna make them wish they _had_ done something to regret." Mehra snorted at the thought, and motioned to Ronon. "I think it's time we woke them up, don't think they'll like waking up in a new galaxy. Reyna said she has something that'll help with the hangover."

John looked to Ronon and gave a silent nod. Ronon grunted and looked to Mehra. "You know I'm gonna make em pay for looking like such idiots?"

Mehra nodded. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Ronon moved off with Merha in tow, and Daniel looked to John with a knowing glare. "Something troubles you." He raised a hand and waved it across his face. "I can feel the disturbance in the force."

John raised an eyebrow at Daniel's idea of humor. "The hell did Reyna give you?"

Daniel laughed and shook his head. "Sorry, Teyla and I got into this big discussion over Star Wars. Apparently you're a mix of Luke and Han."

John smiled and remembered having many such conversations with Teyla. "Oh? So I'm a dashing rogue with a lightsaber?"

"More like a reluctant leader who's got a heart of gold." Daniel explained.

John snorted and rolled his eyes. "And who're you? Yoda?"

"Obi-Wan actually." Daniel looked proud. "Teyla's got dibs on Yoda." John laughed at the perfect comparison. Daniel then sobered. "John, you look like hell. _Something's_ bothering you and for some strange reason you came to me. So yeah, I _do_ sense a disturbance in the force."

John took a deep calming breath. Sam had always said that Daniel could give her a useful opinion and help her to see things clearly. But it was something else that John know about Daniel that brought him here. "Yeah uh, can we talk? Privately?"

Daniel waved ahead of him, "Lead on, Not like I'm doing much here."

John noticed that Daniel didn't have any IVs or sensors hooked up to him. With so little time left, he wondered how he wasn't screaming in pain from the injuries he'd sustained. "You sure you're okay?"

"It hurts." Daniel smiled – John had seen that same smile on Teyla when she hid her pain. "The Travelers are a little easier to deal with from a doctor point of view. They let me have the chair, they just say I shouldn't strain myself."

John nodded and decided to make it easy. "That works." He moved in behind Daniel and began to push the chair. "This is faster."

"Whoa." Daniel mused as they left the infirmary. John knew there was a little hallway nearby – privacy.

When they reached it, John turned Daniel around and leaned back on the wall. "Listen, you were ascended once right?"

"Twice actually." Daniel recounted. "I don't really remember too much." Daniel lowered his voice. "If you're looking for some meaning, then I'll save you some time. It's probably fourty-two."

Daniel appeared to be a good mood despite his injuries and the situation, and John couldn't help but feel better just talking to him. "Ha… well, unfortunately I've got a more _complicated_ problem." He took a second and lowered his voice. "You uh, you know about Rodney right?"

Daniel nodded, his voice lowering as well. "Teyla told me about him." He suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable and muttered. "Uh, you're not making some closet related admission, are you?"

John flinched at the suggestion. _That_ was definitely the last image he needed in his head given what had happened. "_No!_ Jeez, not on your _life_!" Thinking about what he was about to talk about though, a fear entered his head. "At least I hope to _god_ not."

Daniel looked just as confused as John expected him to. This was going to be _brilliant. _"Oo-kay. Maybe you should start at the beginning."

"He…" John stopped himself and took a breath before saying. " _Rodney_ didn't die on Asuras."

Daniel remained quiet. He eventually said. "I see."

"Only Sam and I know. We uh, we found out when we went to Proculus."

Daniel thought about it for a few seconds before he put two and two to get five. "_W__ait_, you mean he…?" Eyes wide, Daniel gulped. "_He ascended?"_

John shushed Daniel softly. He did _not _want it to get out just yet. "Keep it down." A moment passed, no one had heard. "Yes, he-he escaped the replicators and... it's complicated but he ascended because the Asurans had tortured him so badly, it was the only he could keep going. There's a lot more to it but the point is…" John winced, the memories were long gone but these strange feelings kept popping up. "You uh, did you ever share yourself when you were ascended?"

Daniel shook his head, his throat suddenly constricting. "Not that I remember, you don't mean he…?"

_"No-no-no...!" _John again insisted. "Well, no, _not exactly_. I uh, I didn't want to let him go." John chuckled to himself. This must have sounded insane. "I mean come on. I think he's dead for months and he suddenly pops up? Damn right I wanted him back " He sighed and rubbed his head as the ache began. "He showed me what he'd felt so I could understand. It was _not_ sharing. I _know_ what that's like and this was _not_ it."

"Wow. " Daniel mused. "John, that's _incredible_."

John shrugged and rubbed the sides of his nose. He only hoped Daniel would have something wise like Obi-Wan to say. "I'm came here because you're the only person I know who might understand. Sam trusts you and I trust Sam…"

"Okay."

"I-I don't know if what I'm feeling is me or,_him."_

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"About Sam." John muttered – he'd come here for help and being shy wasn't going to help. "We uh, well we're kinda in a weird place right now. We're uh… well we're kinda in this weird… _personal _position."

"Oh." Daniel said, he seemed stunned by the revelation. _God would you give a straight answer? _ _"Yikes_. Uh, wow that's quite a problem there." John could tell Daniel was more than a little uncomfortable – He shifted around, obviously trying not to think about what exactly John was saying.

John groaned and rubbed his face. "You're telling me." He waited a few seconds to let the man digest the information before continuing. "It's not like we're, _you know. _But it's not like we're _not_ at the same time. I'm _really_ freaking confused. And I was hoping you might have some kind of answer."

"You mean, whether you're still, _you?"_

_"Yeah!"_ John nodded desperately. "Like I said, _really weird."_

Daniel took more than a few moments to think. John stared at him. _ Help me Obi-Wan, you're my only hope._

"Well." Daniel began. "Ever since I came back I've uh, well in my dreams mostly I might remember a glimpse. A feeling, sort of like looking at the shadow of something. You can kinda make it out but it's not in great detail or anything."

_Dammit. _"Okay. That's not _exactly_ encouraging."

"Look." Daniel explained – his voice sounded very serious. "I'm not even going to _pretend_ I know about what happened to you. It's only been a few days, so I think you might need to wait a little longer before you do anything _rash._" Daniel looked a bit uncomfortable, John didn't blame him.

"Right. Time." John bowed his head and tried to grasp to what Sam had told him. The only problem was that brought up a whole other can of worms. "Too bad we've got less than two hours before the shit hits the fan."

"It's always bad in the calm before the storm." Daniel sighed. "Then the storm comes and you wonder what the hell you were thinking."

John couldn't help but laugh – Daniel's joke had wisdom he hadn't expected. "Huh, that actually does make sense. Sure there isn't a little Jedi in you?" Daniel merely replied with a shrug. John nodded idly as he realized what he had to do. Taking a long deep breath, he looked down to Daniel. "Thanks, Guess Sam was right."

Daniel opened his eyes wide. "What'd she tell you?"

"Nothing I couldn't guess." John said as he took Daniel's wheelchair and began to push him back to the infirmary. "Maybe something about us and alien women."

Daniel snorted – then groaned as his laughter cause him pain in his chest.

**Atlantis Control Room**

"Everything's ready, Daedalus reports systems are at thirty five percent and all the Traveler Ships report ready as well."

Sam nodded to Chuck's situation report. Time was up and any minute now the Asurans would arrive and serve as their distraction. It was brutal – this waiting game. John was in the chair room, Ronon and the Traveler security forces had moved all the refugees to the center island towers, and Larrin had taken over coordinating the city's point defenses. Sam was in charge of the whole thing now and the mantle of leadership weighed heavily on her. "Status on the Hives?"

Chuck tapped a few controls and replied. "Still no change. They're holding position. Looks like they're gonna wait for us to make the first move."

Patience was the key, but not to Sam's door. She tapped her headset and did a city wide announcement. "May I have your attention, this is Colonel Samantha Carter. Any minute now, this city will be entering a combat zone. Our plan is to leverage our two enemies against each other while we make our escape. The Wraith are already surrounding us, but we've contacted the Asurans to come to our aid."

Sam hadn't intended to make a speech, but seeing as there was still time, she said what was on her mind. "What neither of them know, is that we have a new mode of propulsion. It has taken months, but we will be leaving Pegasus, Earth, and everything we know as familiar behind. We do this to escape the Wraith and Asurans – neither of whom will be able to follow us."

Chuck turned to her and nodded – Sam smiled at how he was willing to follow her in this. It had finally hit here that this was it, she wasn't going home – but at least she had friendly faces around. Sam continued. "I would like to take this opportunity to commend those of you who remain from the expedition. There is no reason for you to accompany us, other than your unending loyalty to this place and these people." Sam winced – _everyone except me and Doctor Beckett. _"Know that I am very proud of each and every one of you. More so than I ever thought possible."

There was still nothing on the sensors – the Asurans were taking their sweet time. "I want you all to also know, that no matter what happens in the next hour, I want you all to know that this is the right thing to do. Our government has become complacent and uncaring, so much so that we now have to make this decision, a decision I can only say with pride we have all made."

An alarm began to sound, Chuck quickly brought it up – an Asuran Aurora had entered the system. Sam drew in a sharp breath – _go time._ "The war for Pegasus is over, but our battle is just beginning. I trust you all to do your duty and reaffirm my belief in you. Stay frosty, this is about to begin." Sam shut off the city wide and looked down at her screen. Another Aurora, and then another, two smaller cruisers, and then another two Auroras and then… _My god._

It took a moment for Sam to get ready. The Asurans had brought their entire fleet to bear – this was going to be a slaughter. Sam switched to the command frequency. "This is Carter, the Asurans are here. Any questions?"

Nobody asked anything, but John said. "_I see them. Auroras and Cruisers. They're on the far side of the system and moving towards the denser pack of Hives." _John's voice was surprisingly calm despite the realization that there was enough firepower out there now to flatten a planet.

Major Mark's voice came in calm as well, another seasoned soldier. _"We've just gotten one of our Dorsal plasma beam cannons repaired. Only a few shots before it burns out but it'll be a nice surprise. Nukes are all armed as well and loaded. We're as ready as we'll ever be."_

Now Larrin's voice came in, and Sam knew the time had come. _"My security and what's left of your crew are keeping the refugees calm. Reyna's ready for casualties if it happens. I've got crews ready to run emergency repairs and bypasses as necessary. We're ready."_

One last check. Sam spoke quietly. "Dr Zelenka. Are we ready?"

Radek took a moment to reply – Sam sighed in relief as he said. "_We are ready, Colonel Carter. Colonel Sheppard may launch us at will."_

Sam swallowed and focused. "Showtime. John?"

"_Hold on folks." _John announced. Sam felt a strange vibration through the floor._ "This is gonna get a little rough."_

The city went from vibration to a tremor, and then to a full shake. Sam could see the water line outside the window begin to rise. She couldn't help but muse. "Well… that's certainly something I won't forget."

Chuck worked furiously on his console – Sam knew he was manually redirecting power to keep their patched together power grid from browning out or worse overheating. "Third time here!"

**Atlantis, Mess Hall**

Laura had to admit; of all the duties she could have pulled this was certainly one of the simpler ones. She couldn't imagine what Sheppard was going through with a wormhole drive in his head. "Ella, give me manual control – it's go time."

Rafaela nodded and worked on the haphazardly installed console on the mess hall balcony. It was one of the few balconies large enough to accommodate the point defense railguns hastily installed by the Travelers. Laura had been trained in how to use it – but actually sittign in the hotseat was something diferent. A further seven turrets had been slaved into Laura's controls. She was literally the last line of defense against Darts. Rafaela's assistance keeping the system running while several Travelers behind her brought in ammunition only served to make Laura calmer.

"Alright Laura, the system is online and you've got control. There's a team of Travelers at each gun ready to rearm as needed."

Laura took hold of the two handed controls and yanked back on the first level of safety – it made her feel like she was cocking the damn thing. "Alright. Come on you slimy Wraith sons off bitches. _Come get some!" _

In the reflective panel of the screen, Laura saw Rafaela slap her forehead. Civvies just didn't get it sometimes.

**Atlantis, Infirmary**

Teyla held Torren Rodney for the first time, and deep in her mind the worry that it might be the last time refused to go. She sat next to Daniel who had 'convinced' Reyna to bring him a headset and laptop so they could keep aware of what was going on. He kept one hand on Teyla's, silently reassuring her.

Teyla watched as the Traveler doctors and medics did the same for all the patients inside – refugee and Traveler alike. There was no separation now between them.

**Atlantis, Control Room **

"Breaking waterline in three, two, one…" Chuck watched through the window as the water receded off the top of the shields and his heartbeat quickened. "We're clear. Orbit in four minutes at present speed."

Carter stood behind him – one hand gripped onto his chair tightly. Chuck wondered if this was affecting him so much, how Carter must have felt. "Hostile positions?"

Chuck brought up the sensor data. The image it brought up was gratifying. "It's a curbstomp ma'am. The Asurans have destroyed two Hives, the others are moving to engage." He shook his head as he noticed another blip moving towards them. "It's not all good, we've got four cruisers moving in on us at top speed and launching Darts. They'll intercept us before we reach orbit."

Carter patted him on the shoulder and turned around. He heard her say. "John, you know what to do."

"_Copy." _Sheppard said on the command line. Chuck wondered if maybe he _should _start calling him John. _ "Two minutes to maximum range, time to give those plasma batteries a whirl."_

Chuck quietly channeled power from the pier lighting system and gravity plating to the plasma batteries –even a little extra was worth it. He wasn't expecting Carter to take his chair in her hand again and say. "Chuck, I'm going to the Chair Room. Control room is yours."

It wasn't the first time Chuck had been in control here, but the weight on the moment threatened to crush his ego. A few other Travelers in the room didn't seem to care though – each coordinating a group of people or systems just as he was. "Uh, _okay_."

Carter was gone before he finished the fractured sentence. _Oh shit._

**Atlantis, ZPM Room**

"What are they doing? Even fifty Cruisers couldn't take the city on."

Radek tried to block out Mila's musing. The one thing he hadn't learned to deal with was her constant muttering and he realized that he did the same on occasion. "I don't know, but we must make the final connections. Wormhole Drive will be ready to soak up the charge as soon as we're in stable orbit."

Mila went to the ZPM console and did a last minute check on their power levels. "Potentia are at full output readiness. It'll take about half of what we've got to make the jump, hope the generators don't fry."

Radek shuddered, the thought of subspace collapsing in on itself was _not_ a pleasant one. "Let's hope that does not happen then, bring plasma batteries online. Colonel Sheppard will be needing them momentarily."

**Atlantis, Chair Room**

A drone had no sentience or even intelligence. A mental interface and wireless transceiver was all it needed. The rest of the unit was purely destructive. It was the oddest feeling to John, seeing through the 'eyes' of a Drone as it launched from the city. It was oddly liberating.

Floating up past the city's many towers, spinning lazily heading for the inner surface of Atlantis's shields. Shields that could repel even the strongest blasts, but could allow anything one desired through harmlessly.

The shield buzzed past quickly, and John pulled the drone into a tighter spin. A squadron of Darts were preparing to Kamikaze, and John figured the less energy Atlantis had to expend the better.

The Drone tore through the nose of the first Dart like an F-302 through the clouds back on Earth. John swung the drone around and tore the engine off the second, then eviscerated a third all with one still blazing drone.

The spinning motion shattered the formation and the broken pieces of the Darts bounced against Atlantis's shields harmlessly. The first Cruiser was now barely within range.

The Drones had a _very_ long range, and John put them to work. He shaped a drill in his mind and the leading drone he controlled was the very tip while the ones behind spun in tight arcs.

The lead cruiser didn't even bother to try and dodge, it flew straight into the barrage and was shredded like a paper target hit with a shotgun. Secondary explosions tore the organic armor apart, and several of the Drones were fully destroyed in the blast.

A few survived though, and John switched them to Auto-Track mode to engage more Darts. Time for the second barrage.

John hardly noticed Sam enter the room, quickly moving over to where she turned on a console with the graphical combat zone in full 3d hologram. John watched the Asurans continue to cut through the Wraith – a few more Wraith cruisers faced Atlantis, but the Hives focused on the Asurans. _Odd._

Major Marks' voice came in like steel. _"We're ready for shields down. Plasma beam ready for use and railguns are loaded."_

"Copy that." John said. He could sense Sam nearby trying to do what she could in prioritizing targets. He added. "Target Darts that try and make it through the Drone barrage. I'll focus on the Cruisers. Anything that makes it through is probably going to try and target our powergrid."

John breathed in as the second cruiser took hits from his drones. It quickly turned into a sieve, flames and smoke bellowing from its exposed inner hull. The other two cruisers were in range now and fired everything they had.

That's when a new signature came into the sensor readings, and John's throat constricted. _"Oh shit. Shit-shit-shit!"_

**Wraith Superhive, Bridge**

"My lord! The Asurans have formed a phalanx and tear through our allies! They are targeting us now!"

Todd sat in his chair, one arm clutching the armrest tightly. "Ignore their pleas. Atlantis is our target. Do _not_ let them escape."

The sub-commander turned and hissed. "The Asurans have a significant force, they could pose a serious threat and we lose more Hives every minute."

Todd scoffed and pointed to the screen. Atlantis was rising from the planet and it wouldn't take too long for it to reach a point where it could enter hyperspace. Already they were delayed by the mistake of underestimating the tenacity of these Earth humans – The same mistake wouldn't be made twice. Todd relished the idea of more humans from the Milky Way. "They will fall before us, but we will lose everything if we cannot take Atlantis. Leave the Hives to the Asurans. Less need to share food, unless you wish to go hungry."

The Sup-Commander finally understood, and instead turned to his console. "Yes, my lord. Weapons range of Atlantis in two minutes."

**Atlantis, Chair Room**

John winced as the fourth Wraith cruiser ignored any fire he threw at it and slammed into Atlantis' shields. He'd seen _Darts_ do that before, but _never_ capital ships. "They _really _don't want us to leave. I need

Sam stood behind John, a hand on his shoulder. "John, start up the wormhole drive. We _can't _wait."

The situation was dire, the fourth cruiser was badly damaged and soon to be destroyed, but almost a hundred and fifty darts still circled around Atlantis firing vainly against its powerful shielding. John considered warning Sam that it would drop the shield, but knew it was another of those hard decisions Sam was capable of. Something he admired. Wordlessly, John nodded and accessed the system.

* * *

Sam couldn't help the screaming in her head. The numbers didn't lie, she whispered so only John could hear. "That Superhive is going to be in weapons range in two minutes. How long-"

"Too long." he thought for a second before raising his voice. "Radek, I need more power to the Wormhole Drive. We're not gonna make it out before that Superhive gets close enough."

The city rocked from side to side, Sam turned on the cameras and gasped at the visual. The Traveler ships fired their turreted particle cannons, the railgun batteries Cadman manned fired sheets of hot tungsten blanketing the city, even Atlantis' capital ship sized Plasma towers tried to hit the nimble Dart Fighter craft. But she was right and saw several sections begin to take damage from the Dart's cannons and kamikaze runs. "Keep up the fire. They're targeting the main power conduits."

It didn't matter, and Radek now made it clear. "_Colonel! You must avoid the Superhive's fire! Any more strain on the shields will lower potential power and risk exposure of the outer refugee tower to space."_

John screamed back. "If I turn the sublights on, the drive will take longer. We need to slow that Hive down somehow."

Sam watched on the screen as the Asurans finally finished the regular Wraith Hives and left nothing but shattered husks. They now moved towards the Superhive with surprising speed. "The Asurans are moving on the hive. They might be able to distract them."

Of all people, Major Marks came in with a solemn voice. "_I'll do it, Daedalus has enough nukes to take that Hive out. Just gotta get close enough."_

John muttered, only about a minute and fifteen seconds left before the Hive was in range. "And how the hell you plan on doing that?"

"_I've still got emergency thrusters. __I'm gonna ram this ship down that cocksucker's throat."_

Sam went speechless for a moment, everyone on the radio did. She quietly repled. "Kevin, you'll never survive."

"_But you guys will." _Marks replied, Sam could hear the determination in his voice – she'd never heard it before. "_And that's enough."_

Radek's spoke as Sam watched the first hailstorm of plasma and drones rain on the Superhive from the Asuran fleet. "_It might work. The Hive will likely survive the explosion, but it would certainly buy us the-."_ A sudden shake of the city cut into the com frequency, and a shrill scream came over the com. _"…Mila? Mila! Ach má bůh! MILA! Ne ne ne! JÁ potřebovat pomoci! JEDEN Doktor! I need Medic! Mila is hurt! Doctor!"_

Larrin's voice cut rhough. "_I'm coming! Hang on!"_

Sam could see John closing his eyes and concentrating, whether it was to block out the sudden horror or to input the wormhole drive coordinates she couldn't tell.

And then it didn't matter.

**Atlantis Mess Hall  
****Railgun Battery**

Laura had a great vantage point, and already she'd racked up more kills than her entire career before. The Wraith Darts were coming in with no hope of surviving – Laura had to wonder what got into the Wraith to do such as thing. Her arms trickled with sweat and were sore from swinging around in the turreted seat. Her thumbs hurt like her old Nintendo days. Rafaela had on more than one occasion had to wipe her brow to keep her eyes clear – If they survived, she'd have to get her something nice.

Laura had all the information everyone else had, so she assumed it would be another minute before the Hive came into range, and that's when she saw the large globes of blue plasma fire come from the front cannons, six shots in total.

**Atlantis Balcony Room  
****Near Chair Room**

Sam forgot all about the chair room. She wanted to see it for herself and flat out ran to the nearest balcony. Screams and unintelligible cursing riddled the headset and she pulled it off, holding it in her hand.

The balcony was empty, but the skies above Atlantis weren't. An oddly beautiful light show of blue Wraith plasma, Yellow Atlantean fir and bright white drones flying about. Sheets of railgun fire continued to protect the city from the worst of the Darts, who still flew around trying to inflict damage. Smoke rose from the unshielded parts of the city, a strange corona effect from the horizon of the planet they orbited. But all Sam could see were the six nearing globes of supercharged plasma contrasted against the black of space.

There were five thousand people in the refugee tower, a mix of Travelers and Pegasus natives. They were all about to be exposed to the vacuum of space when those shots hit the Atlantis shield. Sam couldn't do _anything. _Nobody could. Her throat dried and eyes watered. Sam knew that gripping terror of being exposed to the unimaginable vastness of space.

_Please God, no._

* * *

John grit his teeth and forced his mind to focus on the Wormhole Drive. If he pulsed the sublights to dodge the incoming fire, that would add more time to the wormhole drive, more time for the Superhive to shoot at them, more time for the Asurans to get close. For months he'd been fighting to give them this chance, hoping against all odds that they could save these people. But every sacrifice made, even Daedalus' crippling their Hyperdrive had been for naught.

Around two thousand people were on the Traveler ships and in the main tower that would remain shielded. _Only two thousand_ out of almost seven thousand. John couldn't even begin to fathom how five thousand people could die all of sudden.

"_Thrusters coming online! I'll take the hits! Go go go!"_

John heard Marks screaming over the radio. Other Travelers screamed to evacuate the towers but it was too little too late. He considered using the Drones to try and absorb the hits, but it was futile. All he could do was pray that when the bolts hit, that-

His eyes grew wide and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the bolts closing suddenly slow and come to complete halt in space. They floated there like miniature blue suns, spinning lazily – licks of energy enveloped them. It was eerily beautiful.

"What?" John said outloud, and then the realization hit him. "_Rod…"_

* * *

"…_ney." _Sam said. The orbs were so close she could almost reach out and touch them with her bare fingers. She had seen this before, a sudden freezing, a moment in time where physics just didn't apply anymore. A moment where just a few seconds could make all the difference.

Sam put her headset on and screamed. "_MARKS! Do not take off! Do not take off! Abort launch! Abort launch!"_

No response. Sam could see on the pier below. Daedalus had activated its emergency thrusters but didn't move. It was fixed in place no matter how hard it pushed. Sam pushed off the railing and bolted back to the chair room praying that this wasn't a false miracle.

**Wraith Superhive, Bridge**

"_Explain!" _Todd screamed. This was _not _going to end like this. He'd spent so much time working on this plan, shattering any hope the humans had. Building a craft worthy of conquering a galaxy. A malfunction was _not _going to stop him.

The subcommander looked panicked as he replied. "Our fire is not reaching the city! _I do not understand! Our fire has stopped before striking the city!_"

Todd lunged out of his seat and backhanded the Sub-commander away from the weapons console. Todd had recently fed and had no mercy. The Subcommander staggered back- bleeding from the head where he'd been hit. Todd knew he was unwilling to fight him.

Todd spun the Hive around for a broadside – a full twenty four cannon barrage. As each cannon aligned, it fired and added to the continent melting fire. Atlantis would not repulse this level of fire without being crippled.

The Sub-commander groaned as he got up, and stood behind Todd who focused on the screen. The plasma flew out – and like some kind of scientific anomaly, they too froze before striking Atlantis. Todd screamed and smashed the console ahead of him in rage.

**Atlantis, ZPM Room**

"_Mila…Vytrvat. být příjemný tebe mít zavázat k dále. do téže míry jeden sestra až k mne. tebe musit přežít být příjemný."_

Larrin didn't understand a word of what Radek was saying, but seeing the way he held the unconscious electrocuted young woman and the tears flowing from his eyes knew that it had to have been emotional. Larrin hadn't realized that they'd grown that close to each other.

Reyna along with two other Traveler Medics were right on Larrin's heels, quickly taking Mila and doing what they could. Larrin fought back her own tears and grabbed Radek by the collar. "Is the Wormhole Drive ready?"

Radek didn't say anything - catatonic. Larrin screamed again. "Doctor! Is the drive ready?"

Radek still said nothing. Larrin silently cursed herself and slapped Radek hard across the cheek.

Radek shook his head from the strike, he looked at Larrin and finally understood. He took Larrin's hand and pushed away. "Drive, Yes… One last… turbulence…"

Larrin watched as Radek stumbled backwards, his glasses missing and hair all over the place. He leaned over the console and monitored the now forming subspace aperture above the city.

Larrin had done all she could, this was up to fate now.

**Atlantis Chair Room**

John's pulse fired like an P90 on full automatic. The giant blue ripples in space forming above them was oddly entrancing. Almost as beautiful as the now fifty plasma bolts at station keeping between the city and the Superhive. He had a clear run to the Subspace Aperture. He heard so many transmissions – the Asurans ordered them to stop, and the Wraith screamed for them to surrender.

So close – they were almost there. John was so focused he didn't notice Sam until she took his hand. He looked into her eyes and saw the hope, the realization that by some miracle, they were going to make it.

Fifteen seconds, John slowly eased the city into the blue rift. He could feel a strange almost stretching sensation – nothing like when they entered hyperspace or went through a Stargate. Maybe it was just the city's sensors.

With only seven seconds left, John turned on a wide band communcations so the Superhive could listen. "You will _never _have this city. You will _never_ find Earth, and you will _never_ see us again. _Enjoy_ _starving, you goddamned Wraith bastards!"_

**Wraith Superhive, Bridge**

Todd didn't scream, he didn't howl, he didn't even feel rage over what he'd just seen and heard. He couldn't feel anything now.

Atlantis was gone – All sixty shots had waited for Atlantis to fly past, only then continuing moving and impacting the planet behind. It was so much power that it boiling oceans, glassed continents, and rendered the planet uninhabitable. Scans detected no detectable field or technology that had been responsible. Worse still, Atlantis had left no trail he could scan like Hyperdrives left. Whatever they had used to escape was untrackable.

"My lord. Atlantis has escaped."

Todd had to resist the urge to turn around and make the Subcommander behind him his next meal. Without Atlantis' database, or the control crystal to dial other galaxies, it would be guesswork where he found find his next meal. Atlantis hadn't even left him a smoke trail to follow.

Instead, Todd turned to the Subcommander who still nursed his injury on his head. There was still livestock in their cargo bays, there was still a chance of survival. The only option left. "Target the Asurans. leave none active."

The Sub-Commander didn't move – it seemed he too realized their predicament. Todd had already begun to think about how best to ration what was left. "And after?"

Todd took a few moments to think, the choice he had was clear. Survive as he'd always done, or die. "Have our remaining Darts salvage what we can of the destroyed hives."

"Salvage?"

Todd scoffed and hissed.. "We will need as much _supply _as possible_."_

The Subcommander grimaced and walked back to his controls as Todd sat back down. Survival suddenly felt less appealing.


	4. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"_The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."_

**June 16****th****, 2008  
****Miranda's Tea Cup, Outside Washington DC**

"General, I must admit I'm surprised you agreed to see me."

Jack pulled the seat in front of him out with his foot and sat down lazily. This place was much too frilly for him and he felt very out of place in his dress uniform.

He'd gone over every report from what was being called the 'loyalist' Atlantis crew and they all said the same thing. "You really piss me off sometimes you know that?"

Woolsey sighed and took his glasses off. Jack wondered if the little tea shop he'd chosen for this meeting wasn't out of a misplaced sense of camaraderie. "I understand that General. Seems I have the habit of sticking my nose in places I really shouldn't."

Jack cocked his head and gave him a shit-eating grin. "No _ya think?"_

A waitress came up with a pad and a cheerful smile. The candle on the table seemed to flicker in her blue eyes. Jack realized that this place wasn't exactly the kind of place most high power business meetings would take place – maybe that's why Woolsey chose it. "Good afternoon sirs, My name's Wendy and I'll be your host today. Is there anything I can get you to drink while you make your order?"

Woolsey didn't hesitate. "Coffee, one cream, two sweetener."

Wendy's smile seemed unending and as she turned to Jack he couldn't help but feel the urge to suddenly claim he was diabetic. "And you. sir?"

_Sir? ' _"Coffee, black." It was horrible for him, but he needed a stiffener and it wasn't five o'clock yet. "And please, I'm only in uniform because I left my sweater at home. Call me Jack."

Wendy cocked her head as if mildly confused, but smiled warmly and nodded as she wrote it down. Jack couldn't help but see Woolsey give him an odd glare. "Okay. I'll be back in a few with your coffee gentlemen." She turned to Jack. "Jack."

_Something's up, it's never this easy. _"I'll be waiting." Jack replied in a much too cheerful voice. Woolsey remained impassive but Jack could see the confusion in his eyes. He looked at Woolsey and waited for Wendy to leave before asking. "This place? Really?"

Woolsey shrugged. "The IOA does not see fit to listen in on a midpriced tea shop on the outskirts of DC." Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I think this conversation should remain private."

"Hm." Jack mused. "Okay. So what do you want to say?"

"I agree with them." Woolsey replied. "The renegades I mean, but I had my orders."

Jack snorted derisively. "So did they, and look what happened."

Jack noticed the odd glares from around the room. He imagined it wasn't often that a General in dress uniform and a bald man in a full suit sat and talked here. Mostly there were couples around. Jack shuddered thinking what these people might misconstrue.

Woolsey sighed and shook his head. "We still don't know exactly what happened after the last group was sent back. The Wraith were in the same system, and the Asurans were likely to find them. While the IOA is assuming the city was lost to the Wraith or Asurans, the Air Force is confident that Colonel Carter and Sheppard would activate the self-destruct before allowing that to happen."

"They made it…" Jack drummed his fingers on the table, a quiet sign of his frustration. "Wherever they're going, they made it."

"You seem confident. If you mean the supposed 'Wormhole' Drive', our top scientists assure us such a technology cannot exist." Woolsey quieted a moment before adding. "I'm not so sure."

Jack looked up at Woolsey and began to reconsider his options. Were his life a George Lucas film, he'd shoot Woolsey thereby avoiding getting hit by the Politician's own fire. Of course, it would then get edited many years later to make Woolsey miss the first shot, and then Jack would retaliate. He was glad they'd changed it back for the latest version he'd gotten Teal'c. "What makes you say that?"

Before he could say anything, Wendy came back with a tray alongside their coffees. "Here we go, sir." She handed the mug to Woolsey, setting it down in front of him. "Coffee, one cream, two sweetener." She turned to Jack and smiled as she picked up his mug. "One Coffee, Black. And…" Wendy then pulled a tray she'd hidden in the cart she'd brought. It had several long biscotti on it. "On the house, tray of biscotti for our men in uniform, sir"

Woolsey raised his eyebrows again and made no motion to take one. Jack simply smiled back and looked at Wendy thoughtfully. _Mid-twenties, respectful, honorifics… must be ROTC. _"Oh? That's a nice change from what I usually get around these parts. What's the special occasion?"

"None sir. Just house rules." Wendy seemed a little nervous, a bit of a change from her former state.

Jack decided to get to the heart of the matter. "You keep calling me 'Sir'. Do you serve?"

Wendy blushed slightly, and after a moment's hesitation nodded. "Yes sir, ROTC. Third year. I'm studying avionics and high temperature and reactive materials and start an internship at Andrews in the fall. I thought I knew most of the Air Force generals but I'm embarrassed to say I don't recognize you."

Jack furrowed his brow. _Ha! Knew it. This'll be fun._ "I'm not surprised." He made no other mention, no sense worrying Woolsey. "So you wanna fly _and_ blow stuff up, huh?"

Wendy nodded and stood up straighter – Jack could swear she was repressing a salute. "Can't bus tables my whole life, sir."

Jack kept quiet and looked over at Woolsey. The politician merely shrugged. Jack turned back to Wendy. "Not trying to bribe an old General now, are we?"

Wendy shook her head, completely devoid of shame. "No sir, this airman would never think to stoop so low."

"So, what marks you getting? Boom Boom class ain't easy."

Wendy smirked and clearly stifled a laugh. "Straight A's sir. That's how I got the internship at Andrews."

Jack continued, Woolsey could wait a minute.. "Alright. I'm a little busy right now with my civilian liaison, but here." He fished into his pocket and handed her one of his business cards. Her eyes opened wide. She'd been gusty enough to talk to him; she deserved a chance. "Send me an e-mail with your service record and CSV. No explosives expert should be bussing tables." Jack then snorted. "Before that, I'll have a slice of white chocolate cheesecake."

Wendy nodded and quickly scribbled down his order. Jack wasn't sure he'd ever seen a woman that happy. "Yes sir, right away!" She turned to Woolsey and smiled as well. "And for you, sir?" Jack almost laughed at how it seemed an afterthought – but liked that she paid attention to detail.

Woolsey straightened his tie and deadpanned. "Just the coffee, thank you."

The woman quickly excused herself and scurried away, Jack could almost swear she did a little jump for joy as she entered the kitchen several meters away and yelped a familiar _Woo-hoo. _Jack just rolled his eyes.

When he turned back to Woolsey, the politician was blunt to say the least. "I didn't realize the Air Force hired out of Tea Shops."

Jack shrugged. "If she was being honest, we could use someone like that. Especially before they've become jaded like us." He snorted. "I've learned the hard way not to miss opportunities." Woolsey didn't press him and instead Jack continued. "You were about to answer why you think they made it."

"In all honesty, it's just a feeling." Woolsey sighed and shook his head.

"You? _Feeling_? My _god_, you _are_ human."

Woolsey rolled his eyes. "That and I sincerely hope they did succeed. The IOA has been blindsided by this and Mr. Coolidge is under fire for his actions that led to this. Obviously I've made no mention of this to my superiors."

"Good." Jack hissed. "So you're safe?"

Woolsey sighed in relief. "Thankfully the IOA Supreme Council sees no need to accuse me. I went and followed orders, much as the loyalist crew did."

Jack scoffed. "Yeah, the Air Force is launching an investigation into the 'loyalist' crew." He sighed. "There's a lot of flak from them to the IOA for what happened. The Air Force isn't happy."

Woolsey nodded. "Indeed. This situation is going to be touchy for some time." He fished into his suit pocket and pulled out an envelope. Jack recognized the seal and letterhead of the Air Force. "In the meantime, I have something for you."

Jack accepted the envelope. "Oh?" he looked it over; there was nothing on it.

"This is a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard. He gave it to me right before I was sent back. He asked me to deliver it you."

Jack smiled and tried to hold in his laugh. "You mean before he booted your ass off the city, literally."

Woolsey groaned softly and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Oh, you've seen the video. Yes, apparently Sergeant Campbell has an interesting sense of humor."

Jack smiled and looked over the envelope. He noted that it was unopened. "The IOA hasn't read this? You haven't?"

Woolsey shook his head and became even more serious. "I assumed it was likely something personal. As you both are fully aware of the Deep Space Telemetry program, I saw no need to run it past the censors." He sighed. "Privacy is a privilege we cannot afford to lose."

Jack looked at Woolsey and could see that he was really speaking between the lines. Jack nodded softly in agreement and opened the crumpled envelope. Inside was a formal USAF letterhead and some scribbling.

Sheppard's handwriting was half-decent. The letter was formally addressed to _Major General Jonathan O'Neill _from _Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard_.

There were only two things on the entire page.

_Mission accomplished, I'm sorry._

And

15h 17m 14.4s

21° 35′ 08″

Jack could tell they were stellar coordinates, with declination and right ascension. It took Jack a few moments, but he soon recognized them. His eyes widened in shock - It was one of his favorite things to look at in those few instances his rather large telescope could be used on clear sky nights. He realized just how unlikely it would be to ever see them again.

"General, are you alright?"

Jack snapped back to reality, it had been at least twenty seconds he'd been in a trance and Woolsey got worried. "Huh?"

"You… spaced out for a minute there. Important news I take it?"

Jack took a few calming breaths, his mind instantly going encyclopedic and his mouth on automatic. _"Six hundred million…"_ Seeing Woolsey suddenly eye him worriedly, Jack focused. He crimpled up the letter and put it over the candle burning it from existence. A few patrons turned to look at the strange sight and he just glowered at them – no one decided to call him on it, not even Woolsey. "You were right. It _was_ personal, and the IOA didn't need to know;" He sighed and rubbed his face. _Six hundred damned million light years. Jesus H Christ._ "At least not yet."

Sheppard had trusted him. Jack hadn't expected that of the Lieutenant Colonel. Even more, he'd accomplished his mission. Jack was worried at how broken up Carter was on that last call – he hoped Sheppard and Daniel would help her through it. None of the other loyalist Atlantean personnel knew where they had supposedly gone, but Sheppard had trusted Jack, and even more importantly, he'd trusted _Woolsey _despite the circumstances. It truly shocked Jack to the core.

Maybe it wouldn't be anytime soon, but someday Jack would tell them what the letter said. Until then, he would have to get an even _stronger_ telescope. "Dick, take your politician hat off and tell me honestly. How do we fix the IOA?"

**June 12****th****, 2008  
****1st****t**** Day in Hoag's Object  
****Atlantis, Mess Hall Balcony**

Sam shivered slightly as she stood on the balcony staring out at the ocean. The damage to the city was extensive, and the hyperdrives had been fried beyond a quick repair. There was no way to estimate the travel time they'd been in the wormhole so they'd just agreed it had to have been instantaneous. The idea of being six hundred million light years away from Earth was mindblowing, but slowly Sam was starting to get a grip on it.

It was still surprising that the Wormhole Drive had worked. It had used so much power at once that it blew out enough power conduits and capacitors that it would be months before Atlantis was back to normal. John had enough trouble using the stardrive just to land on this habitable rock in the middle of nowhere.

Normal. Atlantis was six hundred million light years from its original home, a totally new and alien galaxy. According to Radek and Daniel, there was supposedly an Ancient outpost on the mainland somewhere to the south, but right now all Sam could think about was what she was going to do now that everything she'd ever known was out of reach.

The solar system they'd ended up in was sparse, only 3 planets and all of them gas giants. The outpost mentioned in the database was in actuality situated on the moon of the largest ringed planet, a beautiful Saturn style blue gas giant.

The moon itself was around Mars sized, so gravity was a little lower and Sam felt just mildly queasy. She wondered how the Travelers were coping with the change. It would pass though, once the inertial dampeners and gravity plates were fully repaired. The starlight of the sky was enough to see, and Atlantis had turned down most of their lights. Sam had calculated that it wouldn't be long for the sky to light up, but not the way people might have expected.

She heard a distinct set of footsteps behind her. She recognized them amidst the dozens of others in the mess hall – everyone celebrating and a party being held. It was a little worrying that she recognized his footsteps now. "Hey."

"Hey." John replied. He made no mention of her seeming psychic ability and instead stood next to her. The large Mess Hall balcony had only a few people on it, but it was as private as Sam could get here.

They remained silent a minute, and John gripped the railing in front of him. "It's cold. Kinda strange, huh? I thought I put us down near the equator."

Sam nodded. The science helped, it was a _distraction. _"Yeah uh, this moon's rotation is pretty crazy, the seasons change every few weeks and we're in the middle of winter now. Could be worse though."

"Oh?"

Seeing that John didn't want to talk much either, Sam continued. "Well, it could be an actual ice planet."

"Hoth?"John snorted.

Sam winced. "And here I was hoping you wouldn't say it."

"Come on." John chuckled. 'This is me, remember?"

"Yup." Sam said simply. _Yeah, it really is you._

Another moment passed, and John wrapped an arm around Sam. Sam sighed and took John's hand in hers that draped over her shoulder. She needed to get something off her chest. "John." she turned her head to look at him. "We need to tell them. About Rodney."

John nodded as he looked back at her. "Agreed, he deserves a little recognition." He sighed softly. "Just wish Jeannie knew."

Sam smiled and squeezed John's hand on her shoulder. "She knows. I uh, I kinda wrote a little coded note in my letter to her. She'll know how to read it. She'll find out."

John was speechless. Sam loved how he looked so utterly appreciative. "Sam, have I ever told you you're incredible?" Sam felt a little embarrassed, it was so easy to take it the wrong way. "I mean that. I think this place deserves someone like you. You can truly appreciate it."

Sam felt her cheeks blush and she receded into herself. "I told you, flattery will get you _nowhere._" She turned to John again. "But thank you."

John squeezed her again, now taking her other hand in his free one forming something akin to a pretzel with their arms. "So what are your plans? I'm thinking we set up some kind of memorial. Give these people something to remember Pegasus…" he paused for a moment and then smiled. "…and Rodney."

"I like that." Sam said. "I can talk to Daniel and see what the refugees think. I don't doubt they'll like it." She took a moment to think, and then changed the subject. "John."

"Yeah?"

"I don't think… I mean, we need to talk about, us."

John stayed quiet for a moment, but then to Sam's relief he spoke. "Yeah. I need time too."

_Oh thank god. _"It's for the best." Sam said. She squeezed his hand again. "I'm not saying no. I mean, like it or not, I think we can both agree we're…connected." Sam felt terrible in so many ways. It was something she'd wanted to say for a long time, but not in this context. She knew well enough to wait – work past her own internal demons before allowing anything to happen.

"Yeah." John said again. Sam almost felt like teasing him.

In fact… "You're very agreeable."

John chuckled. "I just think we're on the same page." He let go of Sam's hands and rubbed his face. "I'm still messed up, and… and don't be surprised if I want to talk sometimes. But I think I can work through it. There's a lot to do for the city and then I have to find someway to be useful again." He turned back to Sam. "Whatever we've got, I think it can wait."

Sam felt relief like she couldn't believe. "Thank you." She turned away. "I'd appreciate it if we kept things… private."

John scoffed. "Not like I'm a town crier."

Sam laughed. She hated that it was so easy with him; they just clicked. "I actually wanted to thank you for something else too."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Sam lowered her voice, she didn't want _anyone _else to hear this. "Thank you for forcing my hand." She saw the amusement leave John's face. "I'm serious, John. It's been a long time since I've been in a situation where people don't automatically agree with me, or have me consider what kind of person am I for real. As much as it hurts, leaving Earth behind, I can't express what it feels like knowing i did it for those people." She motioned back to the mess hall. John just stayed quiet. "You have this ability to bring out the best in everyone. I'm just glad my best is able to keep up."

John didn't say anything, he just sighed softly and rubbed the back of his head in confusion

Sam could see her admission had really affected him. So she added. "I'm proud of you, John. Yes, you're an impulsive hero, but you don't do it in vain. These people have _you _to thank for saving them."

"What about the people who didn't make it?" John countered. Sam could hear the pain in his voice. "All the people who are dead because of what I let happen?"

"I don't believe for a second it's your fault." Sam replied. "Ignorance is the price we all pay for our exploration. We alerted the Goa'uld to Earth by accident years ago and it took us over ten years to stop them for good, but we did it." She shook her head. "Don't ever believe it John. No matter what you think, you aren't to blame for what's happened." She waved back to the mess hall. "I'm proud of you, and I'm sure so are the others. Don't ever forget that."

She didn't say anything else and turned back to the view. John stayed quiet as well and they both watched the waves crest on Atlantis' piers – a small island far off in the distance.

They stood together for another few moments before a voice cut what little privacy they had asunder.

"Aw,_ cute!"_

Both John and Sam shirked their shoulders and turned, Mila had been the one to speak, but she was being carried on Radek's back. She had a bandage on her left hand, as well as another one on her head. Sam was the first to recover. "Mila, Radek_?"_

Radek smiled and carried the girl who was almost the same height as him as if she were no heavier than a small knapsack. Mila laughed. "Aw don't worry about me, nothing I haven't had before. I never got a ride like this though!"

Behind Radek, Larrin along with Cadman stepped onto the balcony both smiling. "Yeah right. You're lucky Reyna was so close. Don't you _ever_ do that again you hear?"

Cadman laughed and elbowed Larrin playfully. "Aw come on, give the kid a break, she did save us all."

Mila became indignant even as Radek carried her towards the balcony and set her down. "You're damned right! And who you calling _kid?"_

Sam had to laugh; this whole experience was a gift. They'd escaped from death any dozens of ways. Not everyone had come through completely intact, but they had the time to put the pieces back together now. "Larrin, how are your people holding up?"

Larrin shrugged as she leaned on the railing next to Radek and Mila. Laura moved next to John. "Queasy. This place makes me feel like I'm falling upwards. But we're okay – our wounded are being treated and those who can are planning repairs to the city." She chuckled and motioned inside. "After the party of course. Those refugees can brew a mean drink."

"Got room for us?" Sam heard from inside. She spotted Mehra, Drake and Vega walking in. Vega and Drake both looked like they'd lost a fight, but Dusty held onto both of their shoulders and pushed them forward between them. "Draky and Vegabond had a bad night. Figure the fresh air will do them good."

John started to chuckle, Sam smiled seeing that John had apparently gotten over his momentary melancholy. "Great, the view's fantastic. And I think the people running the bar got ahold of your slug juice."

"Slivovitz." Drake corrected as he walked forward and took his spot on John's opposite side near the railing. "And yes, I noticed."

Sam noticed that he didn't use an honorific, but then again why would he at this point? There was no organization behind either her or John to ensure he followed orders. That time was gone. Right now, she was just Samantha Carter.

Behind the former soldiers, Ronon walked in next to Dr. Esposito who looked like she didn't know whether to be excited or grief stricken. Sam was a little dumbfounded how they all seemed to join in, almost like magnetism. "Doctor Esposito, Ronon. Good to see you both."

Ronon nodded as he joined up on John's side. "Lots going on inside. Refugees want to meet us all, Travelers too. Party's getting bigger and bigger."

Rafaela blew a hard sigh. "I thought maybe since I joined you guys right at the end they wouldn't know me, but everyone seems to want to thank me or give me a hug."

Mehra chuckled and shook her head. "I think they might be after something else, Doc."

"Hey." Cadman retorted. "Not that I don't agree, but keep the gutter in the gutter." She then started laughing. "Sorry Ella. Too easy."

Everyone gave a small laugh except for Sam, John and Rafaela. Larrin just shrugged. "Yeah well. You people will have to get used to my people. No offence, but we do outnumber you."

Sam said nothing, but let the people around her talk instead. To her amazement, it was Vega who replied. "Yeah, right. Already had five people offer to take me out. I thought doolies were bad." She turned to Drake. "Don't you get any funny ideas; I know how you operate."

John chuckled and said. "Well, this looks like the start of an interesting adventure." He turned out towards the horizon. "Alright, if I may have your attention, behold!"

Everyone turned and looked. Sam already know what John was waiting for – she'd been waiting for it too. The sky had slowly been brightening, and now past thc cloudbank a faintly darker blue shape crested up.

Cadman lost her humor and exclaimed. "Hey, what's that?"

"It looks like a wave, but it's _huge!" _Mila said, her voice sounded awes.

Sam had to admit, Mila's quickly recovering attitude was heartening. "It's the planet rise, Mila. We're on a moon. The planet happens to be blue."

Dusty blew a bubble with her gum and it popped loudly. "Planet rise?"

Radek finally spoke. "Yes, as this is a moon, we will have both sunrises and planet rises. Sometimes only planet rises when it eclipses the sun."

Larrin shivered and rubbed her arms together. Her light leather clothing didn't do much against the cold. She turned and looked back to the mess hall inside. "Chucky! Get your ass out here!"

Chuck appeared momentarily – a glass of Drake's Slivovitz in his hand. "Hah?"

Waving him over, Chuck slowly stepped out onto the balcony where the rest of them watched the slow and graceful planet rise. Sam had _never _seen something like this. The rings of the planet crested on one side, while the main body of the planet pushed up like a dark blue sun.

Larrin quickly and without a shred of shame, pulled Chuck close and wrapped his arms around her. "Come on, it's freezing."

Nobody said anything as they watched the planet rise and overtake the horizon. The Saturn like planet was disconcertingly beautiful. A tapping sound came from the mess hall and once more Sam knew right away who it was. She turned to the door and waved. "Daniel, I'd kill you for getting up in the condition you're in but you've got to see this. It's unbelievable."

Teyla helped Daniel in with one arm, and the other held her child close in a warm blanket. Daniel limped, but a cane kept him going. Sam knew Daniel hadn't been injured _that _severely, and he had a tendency to bounce back quickly. Daniel said. "Hey, I heard everyone was out here. Figured we'd join in."

"You are not exaggerating, Sam." Teyla said. "I have _never _seen something like that." She pointed out to the planetrise. The curvature of the planet was noticeable now

Everyone remained silent, watching the unreal way the gas giant in the distance rose inch by inch, the enormous ring now clearly visible in the dimly lit sky. It glowed with an eerie yet hauntingly beautiful blue sheen.

Of all people, it was Mila who spoke first. "It's beautiful."

Ronon growled. "Yeah, it is."

Sam smirked. _What an odd group of people. _Teyla said _"_We should name this planet, _er_, _moon_. It _is_ going to be our new home."

Her words were both sobering and hopeful, something that the Sam took a few seconds to digest. The others did too as it took Daniel a few moments before he said. "Well, the Database called this outpost Eurynomestatis. I admit, it's a bit of a mouthful."

Larrin scoffed. "How about we shorten it to _Yuri_? Doesn't sound too bad."

Radek shook his head. "And name moon after Gagarin? No, we need a name with significance _to us."_

Sam noted the Earthborn humans chuckled, and Laura spoke next. "How about Yavin?" John, Sam, Chuck and Daniel all shot her disbelieving glances. "_What?_ I know the planet's not the right color and there's no Death Star but it's better than _Yurimenade-nade-statistics… _whatever."

"No!" Sam shook her head and laughed. "Sorry but I already vetoed John's 'Hoth'. Radek's got the right idea." She turned back to the horizon. "How about Ionia?" She looked back for reactions, While most gave her strange glances, it was Daniel's disbelief that made her smile. "I'm thinking of the Ionian Islands from the Iliad – an epic poem from Earth. The hero Odysseus was lost far away from home. " She blew a stray strand of her hair from her eyes with a quick sigh. "_I_ certainly feel like Odysseus right now."

Drake made a disagreeing sound with his throat. "I dunno, Ionia sounds so, _Star Trek._' A few people laughed, but he remained calm.. "I don't suppose the database has any names other than Eurynomestatis?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows again. Sam was impressed too. "Wow. No offense Lieutenant but I'm impressed you can say it." Drake merely shrugged. Mehra gave him a playful elbow to the gut. "Nothing of interest from what I could see."

Radek grumbled slightly and spoke. "Actually, database says Galaxy is called _Little-churos_. I have no clue what it means in Ancient, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel shrugged. Sam saw both Vega and Rafaela suppress laughter. At least Sam knew what a churro was. Daniel replied "I'd have to see what symbols it uses, but it sounds like _Litichoro_ which would mean 'City of the Gods' or something to that effect."

Drake made a sound with his throat, and then shrugged a bit. "It's still a mouthful. Sounds pretty weird too to be honest. What'd we call this galaxy? Hoagie?"

Sam winced. Drake certainly didn't mince words. To her surprise, Rafaela spoke softly. "How about _Saudade?_"

Sam watched as both Vega and Daniel lost their smiles. _Saudade? _She wasn't the only one as Larrin noticed immediately and asked. "Sow-d_aa_d? What does it mean?"

Vega spoke quietly. "It's Portuguese. It's kinda hard to translate to English in a single word but it means something like sadness."

Daniel cleared his throat, groaned in slight pain but then nodded. "Yeah, it uh, it's supposed to mean ' a sorrowful longing for something that you know you'll never really get'. A few languages have words like that."

Everyone in their group on the balcony became very quiet. Sam had to admit, Rafaela had hit the nail on the head. The only sound was the wind and waves crashing hundreds of feet below them. Even the Travelers and Pegasus natives among them were affected by the translation.

John finally took a stand, and he spoke with confidence. "Saudade. It's got my vote."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Mine too."

One by one, everyone agreed. It was a perfect name Sam thought, and she was just about to take a moment to take it in when Chuck called out. "Hey, everyone line up on the railing. Gonna take a picture."

John groaned. "Oh seriously? With what?"

To Sam's shock. Chuck produced an electronic device from his shirt. It took Sam a second to recognize it and suddenly she felt ridicules. "Oh, you have _got _to be kidding me. You brought an _iPhone?"_

Chuck shrugged. "Not mine actually. One of the scientists left it. I gathered all the phones and PDAs we had left. Still a few left if you want one." Chuck then insisted. "And hey, figured I was coming to party. I don't have a Facebook or Myspace anymore, but I think we might want to remember this at some point." Everyone groaned and laughed at the ridiculous comment. Sam rubbed her forehead. _Disaster awaits._

To her surprise, Chuck walked towards the messhall and then barked. "Hey Marks! Marks! Yeah! Major! Come on! _Come here!_ I need you for a minute!"

_He's drunk._ Sam thought. It didn't surprise her that some of the crew might take things a bit more relaxed. _Chuck _especially. Major Marks joined them a few moments later with Katana and another Traveler behind him. Chuck quickly took the other Traveler by the shoulder and began to show him the iPhone while guiding Marks and Katana towards the balcony.

Marks turned to Sam as he approached. "The hell? What's going on, ma'am?"

Sam rubbed away the slowly approaching headache. She muttered. "He wants a picture. I can't really blame him." She turned to Marks and realized that she hadn't asked yet. "Actually, you've been pretty busy. How is Daedalus?"

Marks shrugged. "It's got no thrust to speak of now. I don't know _what _the Wraith did, but we burnt out our emergency thrusters trying to take off in those last few minutes. We're gonna have to talk about getting refined resources somehow to make repairs."

"Come on, Major." Cadman cut in. "We can talk business afterwards. I can give you a hand de-energizing all that ordinance if you want. I know you've got a smile in you."

_Oh yeah, Relaxed is the new black. _Sam thought to herself. "Thank you Captain." She then relented. "I guess one picture wouldn't hurt." Marks gave her a disbelieving look. "Much." She added which got a smile on his face. Katana seemed disoriented with everyone around, but shrugged and accepted the situation.

Chuck finished giving the rather confused Traveler a quick tutorial on how to operate the iPhone's camera. He looked at the device with more than a little skepticism but relented. Chuck moved over and took Larrin in a one-armed hug, telling everyone to move in closer.

Sam smiled cynically, but then lost it as John wrapped his own arm around her as well. On the other side, Mila scrunched in as well. Sam found herself in the middle of this ridiculous frame. She couldn't help it, and started chuckling. This was too good, too ridiculous, and too funny to be believable.

John whispered. "What's so funny?"

The Traveler seemed to move around to get a good shot, and then tapped the phone hard. Chuck groaned and shook his head. "No no Sylek, you have to tap it _gently_. It's a digitizer touch screen, not resistive!" He grumbled. "Couldn't _wait _a few weeks for the 3G…"

Sam just kept laughing, and hugged John back – laying her head on his shoulder. "Just smile, John."

Nobody said anything, and Sam just accepted the circumstances as the Traveler finally took a proper picture. It'd look terrible at only two megapixels, but Sam realized Chuck was right; she _did _want to remember this moment.


End file.
